More than Magic
by Lalaith Quetzalli
Summary: HPCharmed Xover. Harry has a twin who’s the ‘boy who lived’. Prue’s unborn daughter is given a chance to live. Two evils ally to destroy the world, and the only hope of salvation rests in two teens with no idea what destiny has in store for them. HHr
1. Prologue

**More than Magic**

_**By: Princess Lalaith. **_

_Disclaimer: I own neither Charmed nor Harry Potter, if I did this would be part of the real TV or book story, not just posted on the internet._

This is being done answering to a Challenge of "Brilliance of the Moon". The details are as follows:

Harry's parents are alive and Harry has a twin that is hailed as the boy-who-lived. Harry becomes a lonely child until he discovers some dormant whitelighter blood in his veins with the help of a whitelighter. He learns to orb etc... and fight demons mean while hiding this from his parents.

Rules:

1. Harry works against Voldemort

2. Remus and Sirius also ignore Harry.

3. The whitelighter character is female and becomes a mother figure to Harry. (This could be Paige if you want.)

4. Be creative.

5. Wyatt and Chris can be involved but as teenagers, they could be honorary big brothers to Harry.

.---.

Now, in the summary you can see what I made out of that:

_Harry has a twin, who's called the 'boy who lived' instead of him; Prue's unborn daughter was given a chance to live; two evils ally to destroy the world; and the only hope of salvation rests in a couple of teenagers who have no idea of what destiny has in store for them. _

So, let's begin with this story!

**

* * *

Prologue. **

Harry and Harvey, the twin sons of James Potter and Lily Evans-Potter, were inside their crib that night, it was late but due to some noises they had awakened. Just some minutes later an awful-looking man entered. He was covered in a dark cloak and holding what looked like a wooden stick in his hand, he pointed it to the boys.

"I've heard the prophecies; I know one of you one day might wield a power greater than mine, even if I don't know which." The man hissed evilly. "That's why I won't let either of you live to that day. Avada Kedavra!"

It all happened too fast for any of them to really notice, a sort of shield of a glowing sky-blue appeared in front of the older twin: Harry, as he got in front of Harvey. The green flash of the curse rebounded in the glowing shield, hitting the one who had cast it. The consequences were immediate and quite evident, there was a shrieking scream as the body of the evil man turned into dust and what looked like a shadow left the room through a window.

Some seconds later Lily Potter entered the room yelling for her children and what she found inside confused her greatly: Harvey was in his crib, sobbing in a mix of fear and confusion for the situation he had just gone through, while Lily's eldest son: Harry, was sitting on the floor, below the crib, no one really knew how he had gotten there.

.---.

The following morning the news were official: Lord Voldemort had disappeared, hopefully for good, and it was all thanks to the 'boy who lived' as the people named him. The only one who had ever survived a direct attack from the Dark Lord: Harvey Potter.

At least that was what everyone believed, they had no idea that the real hero had been in fact Harry, and it's not like anyone there would have been able to explain the fact to them.

And so the Potters became famous, for being the parents of the boy to whom the whole magic community owed their peace. Lots of people would go see them, or invite them over to their homes, always with the hope of meeting the 'boy who lived'.

Lily and James seemed very happy with what was going on, as well as Harvey's godfather: Sirius Black. They were all very proud of little Harvey.

And somehow, apparently without any of the adults even noticing, ever so slowly they began pushing Harry away. Almost as if he didn't exist anymore, Harvey seemed to be the only one who mattered and Harry…he had become a no one in his own family.


	2. Of Witches and White Lighters

**Chapter 1. Of Witches and White-Lighters **

It was a normal day in the Potter household. Breakfast had been served by their mother, as usual, they had all eaten, while chatting about the most recent party they had attended; or well, at least three of them. Harry never attended those parties, according to most adults he wasn't needed there; in fact, he hardly ever did anything 'in family' with his parents and brother.

Harry had noticed, since he had memory, that he didn't seem to be important to his family, it almost seemed like sometimes they even forgot he existed. But Harry wasn't angered or even saddened by that, or at least he didn't show it; he kept telling himself they were always too busy, because his brother was famous, so it was normal that they never had time for him, and sometimes even forgot about him. If anyone asked Harry would never say a single bad thing about any of the members of his family; despite the way he was treated he still loved them all very much.

The routine of the day was broken, however, when there was an unexpected knock on the front door. As Harry was taking care of the dishes at the moment, and Harvey had gone to his room to get ready for that day's activities, it was Lily who answered the door.

"Hello Lily." The woman smiled at Lily.

She was a slender woman, of medium height, with short brunette hair with what looked like a sort of red highlights, honey-brown eyes and dressed in casual clothing.

Lily, however, looked at her as if she were seeing a complete stranger.

"Don't remember me?" The woman asked. "I'm Paige, Paige Matthews, from San Francisco. I'm Harry's godmother."

"Oh right." Lily nodded. "Sorry, it slipped my mind."

Paige didn't comment on the fact that it wasn't normal for anyone to forget her own son's godmother, less of all when they met at least once a year, in the twin's birthday.

"What brings you here out-of-date?" Lily asked confused. "Harv…The twins birthday isn't until next month."

"So you forgot that as well…" Paige murmured. "I know the twins brother is still some time away, but that's not why I'm here. I believe I told you I had found a wonderful school I would like my godson to attend. It specializes in 'gifted people', like Harry."

"Gifted?" Lily asked. "I think you've got the wrong twin there."

"I don't think so." Paige replied. "Harry is quite clever and observant, willing to try anything possible to reach his goals. Very much like certain nephews of mine…Look Lily, I know this is hard, the fact that this school isn't even if this continent doesn't help either, but I really believe Harry would do great there. He has a great future ahead of him, believe me."

"If James and I let him go to this school of yours, would we have to pay for it? And when would he come home?"

"You don't have to pay anything. One of my brothers-in-law is a professor of this school and he believes, just like I, that it's the right place for Harry to be in. Sadly, because of the great distance between San Francisco and London, and the fact that this school has both morning and afternoon classes, it's most likely that he would only be able to visit you in the Holidays. I know it's hard but…"

"Alright. I'll talk with James about it."

Some hours later it was set. Harry would be leaving that very afternoon for San Francisco to live with his godmother and her family; and he would get to attend a 'special' school along with his 'honorary cousins'.

.---.

Harry arrived to the Halliwell manor right in time for dinner. All the family was already there, waiting for him.

"Hey everybody!" Paige called as they orbed into the house. "We're home!"

Being Harry a wizard, and knowing about it, he wasn't too impressed by his godmother's powers, he had seen her using them before; even when she knew they were nothing like what his own parents could do, he liked it.

Just some minutes later the living room of the manor was full of couples and children waiting to be introduced to that who from that day on would be like a member more of their family.

"Ok, first of all." Paige began the introductions. "This is Harry Potter, James and Lily's son and my godson."

Everyone immediately greeted him happily.

"Now." Paige continued. "Harry, this man here is my husband: Henry Mitchell, and with him are our children: Henry, he's your age, and the twins: Padme and Pamela."

The boy, just like Paige had said was Harry's age: six-years-old, while the twins seemed to be about three.

"Then there's my sister Phoebe, her husband Coop and their three little daughters: Patience, Colleen and Grace."

Phoebe and Coop (the Cupid), smiled at Harry, their daughters seemed to be about six, four and two years-old respectively.

"My eldest sister is Piper, her husband, and the professor of the school I mentioned to you is Leo Wyatt, and their children are Wyatt Matthew, Christopher Perry and Prudence Melinda."

Wyatt was ten years old, Chris around nine, and Melinda five.

"Call me Wyatt." The eldest of the three told Harry. "My brother you may call him Chris, and my sister Melinda or just Mel."

Harry nodded.

"Next to Phoebe and Coop is a very good family friend of ours: Billie Jenkins and…"

Paige stopped with the introductions and began turning everywhere, apparently looking for someone she couldn't find. The rest noticed and began looking everywhere as well.

"Where are you, Hermy?" Paige asked in a loud voice finally.

"Coming!" A little girl's voice could be heard.

When they all turned around they could see a girl dashing down the stairs, she tripped in the last steps and was about to hit the ground face-first when Harry reacted and held her tightly yet gently by the arm.

The girl, who had amber eyes and wavy golden-brown hair, regained her footing with some help from Harry.

"Thank you very much." She mumbled. "And sorry."

"Don't worry." Harry replied with a smile. "It was not a problem."

"Ah, you're here." Paige said finally. "This is Harry Potter, my godson. Harry, this is Piper's goddaughter, and in a sense her niece: Hermione Patricia Granger-Trudeau."

"Pleased to meet you." Hermione said with a soft smile. "You may call me Hermy, everyone here does."

"Alright Hermy." Harry smiled as she looked around. "I'm happy to be here. Thanks to all of you for wanting me here."

"Why wouldn't we want you here?" Piper asked him, as always the matriarch of the family. "You're a very special person Harry, all of us here in this room know that. Though I think the question here should be: do you? Do you really believe you're special? Do you really believe you have a great destiny ahead?"

The way Piper spoke brought a great deal of confidence to Harry, a confidence and blind trust he had never felt before.

"I believe." Harry nodded.

"Very well." Piper nodded. "Then you're very welcomed to our family Harry."

"Thank you." Harry smiled too.

.---.

That very same night they had a 'family dinner' to celebrate Harry's addition to it. And once it was over they explained the boy how everyone there lived:

The ones who lived in the manor were Piper and her family: She and Leo had the main room, their boys the second, the girls (Mel and Hermy) the third. Harry would be sleeping along with Wyatt and Chris.

Phoebe and her family lived in a condominium downtown; Paige and her own family in a house near the police station; Billie lived in a modest department she had gotten arranged for herself above the P3, as she was the one who managed the club, Piper was too occupied with her own restaurant.

Paige worked as a social worker, most of the times helping her husband in his job as a parole officer. Phoebe still worked as a columnist and was part-owner of the newspaper for which she wrote; also she sometimes worked for a magazine; her husband still helped other people as a Cupid, though he mostly was a spoiling father. Billie had finished a career in administration some years before and worked in the club.

.---.

That summer was the greatest Harry remembered ever having. He passed from having a small family that ignored him, to a big surrogate family that treated them as if he was one more of their own, as if he had always been.

Harry knew that the Halliwells weren't exactly a normal family, he had seen her godmother use her 'special talents', like the orbing and healing ever since he had memory, and ever since arriving to the household he had seen most of the members of the family do magic in one way or another.

Yet it wasn't until almost the end of the summer that Harry got to see what it really meant to be a part of that family.

It had begun in the evening, Piper had just called everyone in for dinner. Harry had always believed it something amazing that all three of her children arrived right after she made the announcement that dinner was ready, even if they hadn't been in the manor to hear the call when it was made. It obviously had to do with magic.

Anyway, that night Piper did the usual call, Melinda arrived almost right away, with Hermione at her heels; Leo joined them soon afterwards, yet the two elder boys were nowhere to be seen. Harry immediately had a feeling of dread.

"Mel, honey, could you please locate your brothers?" Piper asked her daughter.

Melinda nodded and immediately closed her eyes, concentrating. It was the only white-lighter treat all three of them had inherited, being able to locate others, the way a white-lighter usually located their charges.

"They're…coming…" Melinda answered, she seemed strained for some reason. "Beware!"

The word caused an immediate reaction: Piper and Leo practically jumped out of their chairs, along with her daughter; Hermione scrambled out of hers, pulling Harry to join them. The boy didn't know why, but by then he was even surer that something was wrong.

Right then they heard a terrible crashing sound, that was closely followed by two figures being dropped (literally) inside.

They were ten-year-old Wyatt and nine-year-old Chris respectively.

"What's happening?!" Piper cried out worriedly.

"Sorry mom." Wyatt said as he hurried onto his feet, pulling his brother up as well. "It's just that we were just coming back from visiting Henry, and…we ran into some trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" Leo asked, he didn't like what was happening.

The answer came in the form of a black arrow hitting a nearby chair, after having almost hit Chris on the shoulder.

"A Dark-lighter!" Melinda screeched in panic.

"Children get under cover, now!" Piper ordered immediately.

With all three of her children being half white-lighters it was obvious they were in a very big risk with a being like a dark-lighter there.

Wyatt and Chris orbed out of their spots and to the safety of the kitchen, while Mel silently slipped behind one of the big sofas. Leo kept guard next to a nearby door; while Piper stood her ground, trying to think of a way to fight off the dark being.

Harry, as he stood next to the big clock, being small as he was, wasn't seen by the dark being that was attacking his 'surrogate-family'. Yet someone else was seen…

"Hermy!" Harry cried out when he realized what the man's intentions were.

Hermione was in panic, she couldn't move from her spot, right in front of the dark-lighter.

The dark-lighter fired an arrow against the girl, who barely managed to cross her arms in front of her face and flinch, the arrow seemed to bounce off some energy.

"Witch…" The dark-lighter noticed immediately. "The child of a Charmed One will definitely be worth something in the Underworld…"

"No!" Harry cried out.

The dark-lighter charged and fired in Hermione's direction; Harry didn't even stop to think about the danger he could be putting himself in as he dashed across the dinning-room and right to Hermione, where he embraced her tightly, giving his back to the man, using himself as a shield to protect his friend.

"Harry! Hermy!" Everyone in the household cried out the moment they saw that.

A second later, they all gasped…

And it was that the black arrow had been disintegrated the moment it touched a glowing bluish shield that had suddenly formed around the two children.

What happened surprised the dark-lighter greatly, so much that, for some moments, he didn't seem to know what to do.

That moment of distraction was all Piper needed, she immediately shook her hands violently in the man's direction; once, twice, thrice, until finally the dark-lighter exploded completely, leaving nothing behind.

"What just happened here?" Mel asked, slowly poking her head from behind the sofa.

"That's what I would like to know…" Piper murmured, then she raised her head and began yelling to the air. "Paige! Paige Matthews! Get yourself here right away! Now!!"

A couple of seconds later a blue glow appeared and turned into Paige.

"What…" Right then Paige noticed the two black arrows around. "What just happened here?!"

"A dark-lighter, that's what happened." Piper replied, almost fuming. "It followed Wyatt and Chris home; but that's not the point. It seems you forgot to tell us quite a few things about your godson…"

"Eh?" Paige asked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that he got in the path of the black arrow that the dark-lighter shot at Hermy, and instead of being shot himself a shield appeared from out-of-nowhere and protected both of them. A shield that seemed even more powerful than the one Wyatt could cast when he was little." Piper explained. "Why didn't you tell us that Harry was a white-lighter?"

"What?!" Paige was in shock. "He's shown his powers already?"

"Well of course." Piper replied. "I wouldn't be telling you this otherwise. Besides, what do you mean if he showed his powers? It's obvious that if he's white-lighter while being a child he was born as one, he must be the son of one."

"He isn't." Paige replied.

"Then how?" Leo asked.

"It's something the elders told me when he was born." Paige explained. "They said that his grandfather, his mother's father was a white-lighter that had clipped his wings, like Leo. And even then they still believed that one of the children had the potential of becoming a white-lighter. That became clear for me the moment I met Lily and her twins, I could immediately feel the power dormant within Harry. When Lily offered me being Harry's godmother I jumped at the opportunity. I knew that way I would be able to be with him to help him with his powers…if he ever released them. And it seems he did…"

Right then Paige interrupted her talk as she could 'hear' the call.

"What is it?" Piper asked her.

"They are calling me…" Paige began, suddenly her expression showed a mix of surprise and confusion. "And they want me to bring Harry and Hermione with me."

Harry was deeply confused, he had no idea what his godmother and 'surrogate aunt' were talking about.

"I can't believe the elders would want to see you…" Mel commented behind Harry.

"Who are the Elders?" Harry asked.

"You know how Auntie Paige is a white-lighter?" Wyatt asked.

"I've heard the word, but I don't know what it means." Harry replied.

"It means she's like some sort of guardian-angel for witches, good witches." Wyatt explained calmly. "Like our mothers."

"But then why would they want to see me?" Harry asked.

"Didn't you hear?" Chris asked, excitedly. "You're a white-lighter too, like my brother and I, and Henry."

That was the last thing the children said because right then Paige approached them.

Harry didn't doubt and immediately took his godmother's free hand, she was already holding Hermione with the other hand.

"I go too!" Wyatt announced unexpectedly. "Just to tell the Elders what happened here…and to make sure they don't try anything strange…"

Hermione and Harry had no idea what the boy meant, but the adults did; even if he had been young at the time, Wyatt had found out how some white-lighters had tried to kill him once before, he didn't want his new 'baby brother' to be hurt.

.---.

Paige and the three kids orbed into the white place they already knew was the main entrance to the Elder's court. It was as far as normal white-lighters went.

The children could see how all of those white-lighters around them were dressed with plain white tunics with hoods covering their faces.

"Miss Paige…" One of the white-lighters called her.

"Miss Wendy…" Paige only acknowledged the presence of the other woman.

The kids immediately knew she wasn't exactly 'a friend' of their aunt/godmother (apparently it was in fact the opposite).

"It seems that is tradition of you and your family to break the rules." Wendy commented in an accusing tone. "Now not only you come wearing that 'human' clothing instead of the tunic, but you also bring mortal children to this sacred place."

"Wyatt is a white-lighter as well, and even at his young age, he's allowed to come to this place whenever he wishes." Paige replied. "I'm sure you haven't forgotten who his father is…"

"Leo…" Wendy whispered in a low tone.

That's right, they all knew who Leo Wyatt was. A white-lighter who had been assigned to take care of the Charmed Ones, fell in love with one of them: Piper Halliwell, and from then on did everything he had to, to stay with her. He had even broken legendary rules and given up his position as one of the Elders, in the end clipping his own wings, becoming mortal.

"And about the other two." Paige added. "They were called here by the Elders themselves."

That was more than enough to leave Wendy in shock. And right then one of the Elders stepped out of the Court Room and called Paige and the kids inside, they were being expected.

.---.

"Something indeed remarkable happened tonight." One of the Elders commented. "The gifts Mr. Harry Potter posses as a white-lighter have finally awakened."

No one had made a single comment about Wyatt's presence, the boy had just taken a sit next to his family and observed the meeting in silence.

"You told me he was the grandson of a white-lighter who became mortal, and that because of the kind of magic his parents possessed, that might bring the abilities he has as a white-lighter out; yet you never told me he was going to be this powerful…" Paige commented.

"We had no idea how much power he was going to be able to use." One of the Elders told her. "We indeed knew of his potential, especially after what he did back five years ago, but we were not sure if his powers would ever come out again."

"Wait a second." Paige interrupted him. "Again? Five years ago? Did I miss a conversation or is it just that you refused to give me information about my charge…again?"

"You have no right to accuse us of…" One of the Elders, of the oldest ones, declared.

"She has all the right." A female Elder stepped in. "We gave Paige the mission of taking care of the child, yet we didn't tell her what made us take that decision."

Paige was told what had happened that night in the Potter household; the night Harvey Potter became the famous 'boy who lived', when in truth it had been thanks to his twin brother's unexpected release of his powers that they were saved and Voldemort lost his body.

"He has quite some powers to be so young…" Wyatt commented in surprise, more to himself than to those around him.

"We really don't know how long it's going to take for him to be able to use all of his powers to their full potential." The first Elder said seriously. "Thus far he's only used his abilities when those he loves are in danger."

Paige nodded, he knew that was how it began most of the times, that's how it had been for her at least; the first time she had orbed had been during the car accident that had killed her foster parents, it had been a reaction of her magic to save her.

"Oh, and something else." The female Elder added. "Though you will undoubtedly have the responsibility of training Harry Potter as a white-lighter, he won't be your charge."

"What…Why?" Paige was sourly confused.

"Because from this day on Mr. Potter has been assigned a charge of his own: Miss Hermione Patricia Granger-Trudeau."

* * *

Here you have it. The beginning of yet another fanfic, another that is a crossover with HP, and this time an answer to a challenge a fellow fanfic-writer did. 

First of all I thank Brilliance of the Moon for allowing to bend rules a little on what this fic is concerned. Meaning the Potters don't really hate Harry, they just don't pay attention to him at all, and his brother isn't mean to him, he just doesn't know how to really treat him (normal considering the way his parents act).

Now to the couples: no matter how many signals (whether discreet or obvious) are made, I still love the Harry-Hermione pairing, which is why it'll be the main one in this fic. For those of you that may like the Harry-Ginny, the best I have to offer you is a Harvey-Ginny pairing, which in essence is very much the same; a point will come in which you'll all see Harry and Harvey are more alike that even they imagine. About other couples, well, mostly I use the Ron-Lavender, Neville-Luna, SiriusOC and DracoOC.

About the loyalties: Draco will be good! That's been decided already! Obviously he's not soft or anything like that, but he isn't Voldemort's ally either. About Snape…well, I'll receive your suggestions on that one, I haven't yet made up my mind, not completely.

About how much the crew of "Charmed" will be involved. Not much really, I mean, some of their children will be directly related to everything, especially those who's ages are closer to Harry's and Hermione's; and I have the idea of including Wyatt, Chris and Billie as main characters at a certain point.

Changes to the original story line: Most changes will be very discreet, and not much noticeable. There will be obvious thing with the fact that Harry isn't the 'Boy-who-lived' this time, and he has other powers, just like Hermione does. The big change, however, will come in their sixth year, and from then on (there's no seventh book to take after yet, so I'm doing my own version).

Oh, two more things: Don't expect me to write a story for each year in Hogwarts, because I won't. In fact I'll have summarized the first six years in a few chapters, just mentioning what's important. And…there might be several issues I don't use in the book where they original come up, but I'll use them later (you'll see what I mean later).

I believe that's everything I have to say. The next is, even if this fic isn't finished yet, I'm several chapters ahead in the writing; so the updates will come as soon as I consider I have enough reviews.

Now, that's all (Hopefully author notes in the following chapters won't be as long as this…). Thank you for reading and see you in the next updates.


	3. Arrival to Hogwarts

**Chapter 2. Arrival to Hogwarts **

Five years passed almost in the blink of an eye, several things changed in that time, but most of it was a well-known routine: Every morning the five children walked to the school in their district, returned home for lunch, and then helped each other get to the magic-school, where Leo, Paige, Billie and several others taught them and other magic children about their magic powers and how to use them.

By then the powers each of the 'Charmed-Children' and their companions possessed was clear to all of them:

Wyatt's and Chris's powers were the same, those of a white-lighter, with the exception of one: the power of healing; that power they could only use it when being together, and it still took its toll on them as it required a lot of energy. Of their mother they had inherited the ability to cast spell, but that's as far as it went. And yet when they had been offered to become official white-lighters they declined, they much preferred the idea of hunting demons, like most of those in their family did.

Melinda was practically the opposite to her brothers, she only possessed two of the known abilities of white-lighters, and those were to locate others and communicate with them, and the power of regeneration (which serves to repair things and heal persons). Besides that he had inherited her mother's gifts as a witch; abilities once again her brothers lacked.

Henry was a white-lighter in all the expression of the word, he had inherited all the powers his mother possessed with one exception: the healing. He had gone as far as to be able to repair things with that power, but he couldn't heal.

Padme and Pamela, Henry's twin sisters had shown very little powers thus far. Some believed it may be because they had inherited more of Henry's (their father) traits as mortals. They could cast spells, but they had to be holding hands to combine their powers, they could locate others, and communicate telepathically to those with whom they shared some kind of bond (like family), but that's as far as it went.

Phoebe's and Coop's girls were another thing entirely, the Elders and other white-lighters had given them the name of 'The Fates' because they were the best when it came to making predictions, they could see the past, present and future, for active power they had inherited their father's ability to teleport. But about their others powers, rumors could be heard in the magical world, that together they had a power equivalent to a Destiny-Angel.

Hermione had several powers everyone there knew well: like the telekinesis, except she did it completely with her mind, some said that with some more training one day she would be able to damage anything that used energy to function (any kind of energy); she also had the power to levitate, some say it was normal, as it could be considered like instead of moving something she was moving her own body; and finally she also had the Astral Projection, though thus far she would only be seen by those who had a very strong magic themselves, and her physical body fell lax when she used it.

Harry was perhaps the only one who had all the traits as a white-lighter, and really all of them, including the power of regeneration with both objects and people; and also possessed some more powers of his own, like manipulating pure energy (and no, it's no demonic power, it's pure energy), and becoming invisible.

These were their powers, very great indeed. But they were still children, the oldest fifteen, the youngest seven; they had no reason whatsoever to be involved in magic wars at such an age and risk themselves, or was there?

.---.

Things took certainly an unexpected turn the morning when two strange-looking birds arrived to the Halliwell household.

It was the day Harry would be going back to England, to his family, for the summer. He could already orb all the way there, even if it tired him, but usually one of the older boys would go with him, just in case.

However, the real surprise was the arrival of the two birds, brown owls, as they entered the Halliwell Manor and flew straight to two certain ten-year-olds' hands: Harry and Hermione. Both looked at the letters, written in parchment that looked very much like the older pages of the Book of Shadows, and there were also wax seals.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Wyatt urged them. "Open those letters already."

The kids did as they were told, Hermione was the first to read her letter and she immediately gasped at the contents; Harry just stared at the piece of paper in shock.

"What is it?" Piper asked looking worriedly at the children.

Throughout the years she had gotten really attached to those two, they were as much of her children as Wyatt, Chris and Mel, and she would do anything that was needed to protect any of them.

"They're inviting us to a Magic School…in England…" Hermione mumbled in a low voice.

"A magic school?" Chris asked confused. "But you already attend a Magic School."

"It's not the same." Wyatt interrupted, he had read Hermy's letter. "This is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Mel asked, still not understanding.

"Well, Hogwarts is just the most famous magic school in the whole magic world." Wyatt replied in a sarcastic tone.

"More famous than the school we attend?" Chris asked raising a brow, not believing that to be possible at all.

"It's not the same." Leo interrupted them. "Magic School, the one you attend is a school for people like you, those who have the magic in themselves and know how to use it. Schools like Hogwarts teach other kind of magic, one that requires the use of a wand to do the spells, that's because the wizards don't have the magic in them, they need to put their energy into the wand, and then the magical core of the wand transforms their energy into the magic they use."

"That's a hell more complicated than what we do…" Chris complained.

"That's true." Leo nodded. "But that's why normally the Wizarding Community doesn't relate too much with us. We're certainly different."

"Then why are Harry and Hermy being invited to that school?" Wyatt asked.

"Well, we all know Harry's parents use magic, they use that kind of magic in fact, so it's normal that we would be called to attend that school." Piper reasoned. "On the other hand, Hermione too was born there in England, maybe when she was born they detected her magic and for that decided to include her in the list."

"But she's one of us, not one of them." Mel insisted. "I mean, she's our cousin, daughter of Auntie Prue…"

"Only in soul Mel." Piper reminded her daughter, while looking at Hermy melancholically. "Even if Hermy is Prue's and Andy's daughter, in a sense she's also the daughter of that couple of English people that took care of her before we arrived."

That was perhaps one of the things that made Hermione's existence so complicated at times. Even if it wasn't exactly popular knowledge, those involved in the situation knew that her soul belonged to the daughter of Prudence Halliwell and Andy Trudeau, a daughter that died before birth and was later given a second chance at life. Even when that time she was born to a very different couple: Emma and Herman Granger, both dentists that resided in London, England, and who named her Hermione Granger; deep down she was still the same Patricia Trudeau. That was how, when beginning to show her telekinetic abilities at age three, the Charmed Ones found her and after explaining everything to her 'parents' arranged some adoption papers; the girl then went to live to the Halliwell manor and became officially known as: Hermione Patricia Granger-Trudeau.

"I can't go." Harry declared suddenly.

"What?" The declaration was so sudden it took everyone by surprise.

"I said I can't go." Harry insisted.

"But your parents will be wanting you to go, your brother will be going." Piper told him while trying to understand his decision.

'I'm not sure if my parents even care what I do anymore…' Harry thought in a sad tone. 'All my life it's been almost as if Harvey is their only son.'

"I'll be going." Hermione declared right then.

Once again, they were all shocked.

"You already heard Billie, Uncle Leo, and all our other professors at Magic School." Hermy tried to explain them her decision. "They've already taught me everything there is to know, all I can do now is practice until I reach expertise, I can do that anywhere. It's not that I don't like being here, because I love it, I love everyone; but I would really like to know what I can learn in a school like Hogwarts."

They all nodded, even at such a young age, they had always let the children made their own decisions, like when Chris and Wyatt decided they wouldn't be white-lighters and would use their powers to fight demons. It was their life, they deserved the chance to decide what to do with it.

"Then I'll go as well." Harry declared.

By then everyone just sighed. It was well known already that the green-eyed would always be going everywhere and anywhere the amber-eyed girl went.

"You sure?" Hermy asked. "I don't want you to do this only because I said I wanted to go. You don't have to if you don't want."

"It's okay." Harry assured her. "As my charge, there's no way I will leave you alone and well, you're also my friend. As you said, it might be interesting."

Hermione nodded with a smile.

It had been decided.

.---.

So as the kids were on summer break, and declaring it was a good time to close the restaurant and hire someone to do some remodeling Piper and her family went to London. The others couldn't leave their respective jobs, but Paige did accompany them with her husband and children for one week, which was the most Henry could take off from his job. Though, when Paige and her family returned to San Francisco their son stayed behind, after moving some strings they had arranged for little Henry to attend Hogwarts as well, so he could be near Harry and Hermy and help them in any way they may need.

The shopping at Diagon Alley was certainly something, as those who recognized the Potters immediately wanted to greet them, and especially their son: Harvey; it was almost as if no one knew that there was another son.

Harry didn't really care, he was taking that chance to show his surrogate family the place, all they had there, it was just incredible for them. They went to Gringotts, where Harry was given a pouch with money by his father and Piper exchanged some money to buy the things Hermy and Henry would be needing. It was strange for those from San Francisco, but they dealt with the differences.

Getting a wand was the first thing in the list. It was a great surprise for everyone when they heard Mr. Ollivander say that the wand that had 'chosen' Harry was sister to the one the Dark Lord possessed. Though, as Lily and James had left immediately after seeing it that Harvey got a wand, they didn't get to know this.

Hermione and Henry got their respective wands as well, and then they went on to get the rest of the things they would need.

Pets was the last thing on the list, and after much thinking Harry bought a white-feathered and blue-eyed bird that he called Hedwig; Henry refrained from buying any pets, seeing as it was likely that his mother would freak out if he did; Hermione said she didn't find any that called her attention, maybe some other time.

.---.

Time passed fairly quickly after that. The 1st of September arrived and the Halliwells went to see the three kids leave in the Hogwarts Express before returning themselves to San Francisco. There's no need to say that all three children staying behind (Piper's kids), left it pretty clear that they expected to receive a letter from their 'cousins' at least every other week, to keep them informed of everything going on with their lives.

Harry jokingly told them to make sure they didn't get their heads blown up by some demon before the next vacation.

The trio had to walk down almost the entire train before they found an empty compartment, it was in fact the last one. There they put their trunks in their places (using some of Hermy's telekinetic power). And then they sat to chat.

Harry heard how his brother entered the compartment next to his and almost immediately befriended a boy that had asked to stay there. That was something he had always admired from his younger twin, how he seemed to have no problem in making new friends or getting along with complete strangers. Harry didn't believe himself capable of doing such things, he knew his best friends were all the Halliwell kids, and he had gotten to meet them thanks to his godmother, because she had had the idea of him studying in San Francisco.

"Remember no one must know what we truly are." Henry reminded them.

"You make it sound almost as if we're some sort of aliens Henry." Harry said jokingly.

"For them, maybe." Henry replied in the same tone. "You must remember what Uncle Leo told us, this magic community and the one we grew up in, they just don't mix. Even if they know each other exist, and some details, they have never gotten along, we can't risk ourselves to be discriminated or to put our families in danger."

The other two knew he was right. None of them carried the Halliwell surname, so even if the wizards knew anything about the Charmed Ones they would have a hard time relating them to the kids, and still, they had to be careful. They didn't know what would happen if someone were to know the truth about them, but they weren't about to risk it and find out.

"What if somehow a demon finds us here?" Hermione asked.

"We do what we've been trained to do." Henry replied seriously. "We vanquish it, we protect the innocents. Remember, we must do our best not to be discovered, but if there's no other way…Our main priority is to protect the innocents, we'll deal with consequences later."

Harry and Hermione nodded, they knew he was right, it was like some sort of law or mantra between the Charmed Ones and their families: "Your magic is to protect the innocents, not to punish the guilty ones." They would always honor that code.

.---.

Harry had to admit he was quite impressed when he saw the inside of the Great Hall once in Hogwarts, but on the other hand he had seen Billie and everyone in the Halliwell family do things that were certainly a lot more impressive.

Thus far things had been alright: Hermione had gasped when seeing Hagrid, the Keeper of the Keys and Grounds in Hogwarts, though it wasn't like she hadn't seen bigger beings before since she belonged to the Halliwell family.

Right before entering the Great Hall they had witnessed an incident with a blonde boy that had tried to convince Harry's brother of becoming a part of his 'gang'. And even when none of the kids there were empathic or that kind of thing, they didn't need those powers to know that boy was no good.

Once inside they were explained how they would be sorted into Houses, that would become the groups to which they would belong for the duration of the school year. Kids began being called, but Harry wasn't really paying attention, not until one of his best friends and charge was called:

"Granger, Hermione." McGonagall called.

The girl went and followed through the motions she had seen everyone else do, it didn't take long until she could hear a voice in her head.

_Well, well, well…what a great power I sense in you. _The voice of the Hat told her. _And a great knowledge as well._

_You're the essence of the Sorting Hat, aren't you?_ Hermione asked in return. _The one that is supposed to see the potential we have and then decide in which house we'll be able to do our best with that potential, right?_

_That's right. The Sorting Hat agreed. Like I said, a very vast knowledge. Even if I do feel in you an essence greater than of anyone that wore me before I think that, at least for now, you'll do well in:_ "Ravenclaw!"

Hermione mind-thanked the hat, took it off and slowly walked to the table where she could see people cheering.

Some more students passed, until it was timed for the first of the white-lighters to step up:

"Mitchel, Henry." Professor McGonagall called from the front of the room.

Henry walked to the front, sat on the stool and let the hat cover half of his head, like he had seen the rest of the kids do, however, he wasn't expecting the voice in his head:

_So…what do we have here?_ A voice asked in his mind. _You're quite an interesting one I may say, though not really a wizard, right?_

_You are some kind of being with telepathy, like my twin sisters._ Henry was amazed.

_I'm a magic object kid, in case you didn't notice._ The voice of the 'Hat' replied, though it didn't sound offended, more like amused actually. _I'm the Sorting Hat._

_I figured that out._ Henry replied. _So…you'll just decide to what house I'm supposed to belong, and that's it?_

_Yes, that's it. _The Hat nodded. _And you aren't that hard to put actually. You have a great sense of justice and of loyalty to those you care for, greater than I've ever seen in one as young as you; may I know the reason?_

_Let's just say it's what keeps me alive, and my possible charges…though thus far I haven't been assigned any official charge so…_

_You're a clear-guide._ The Hat internally gasped when realizing this.

_We like more the term of white-lighters._ Henry replied easily.

_I see. _The Hat nodded. _Then I'm now really sure of where I'll put you. You belong in…_ "Hufflepuff!"

With that Henry walked to the table McGonagall told him too, though instead of trying to engage in some sort of conversation with his new classmates, he kept his attention on the front of the room, knowing it wouldn't be long before his last friend was called.

"Potter, Harry." McGonagall called.

And right before the Hat covered his eyes the young boy could notice the look of disbelieving many of those in the room gave him; it was just like he had always thought it would be, most in the room didn't even remember the 'Boy-Who-Lived' had a twin brother.

_Well, another special kid is blessing us with his presence right now._ The Hat said in his mind. _You must be the third tonight. Though I sense uneasiness in you._

_It's nothing._ Harry lied. _Just my plain, simple, boring life._

_I certainly doubt your life has ever been boring, 'Boy-Who-Lived'_ The Hat declared.

_I'm afraid you have the wrong Potter, the 'Boy-Who-Lived' is my brother Harvey._ Harry replied. _You'll be having him here next._

_Oh, but you know that's not really true, whose the one who truly deserves that title, I mean._

_How can you know about that?_

_Because I can see what's inside you boy, your essence, your great power…_

_I would prefer it if you left that a secret, no one if supposed to know._

_Ah yes, you're another clear-guide, or is 'white-lighter' better?_

_Yes._

_Well, I think you would do very well in Gryffindor, you have all the needed qualities to be there. But perhaps you would prefer another House?_

_As a matter of fact, yes. I would like you to put me with my charge, if it's not much to ask._

_Your charge, that would be the Granger-girl right, I felt her soul full of light before. Very well, if that's where you wanna be then you'll become a…_ "Ravenclaw!"

With that Harry returned the hat to its stool, and as he took a seat next to Hermione he could hear his brother being called forth, only to be assigned to Gryffindor some seconds later.

And so, after Dumbledore's usual speech, the Feast began.

.---.

At that very same time, in San Francisco, a certain Charmed One was having some trouble concentrating in the column she had to write.

"Are you alright, love?" Coop asked his wife worriedly.

"I'm fine Coop." Phoebe replied. "It's just that I'm not sure if it was a good idea for Harry, Hermy and Henry to go to that magic school."

"You know it's what they decided honey." Coop reminded her.

"I know, but I can't help but worry. They're still young and inexpert. What if some demon were to find and attack them? They're too far away for us to get there fast, even with the different types of teleportation some of us may have."

Coop was about to say something else, when unexpectedly three kids entered the room.

"Don't worry mommy." The oldest girl said.

"Our cousins will be alright." The second continued.

"You have nothing to fear." The youngest piped in.

"Destiny has been set into motion." The three finished in chorus.

Phoebe and Coop turned to look at each other, they had no idea of what was the meaning of that, but just considering that all three girls had agreed on something they could be sure at least of one thing: it was going to be something big.

* * *

And here we are! True to my word, I decided that six reviews were good enough for the next chapter to come. I will be expecting the number to increase with time, I'll let you know that. And also I warn you, right now I can update quickly, because as I said before I have a few chapters written already (up until the twelfth of thirteenth chapter I think), once I reach those it'll depend also on how soon I can get the inspiration to write (but we'll worry about that until then so…). 

As you've seen I've already explained the kind of powers the main characters of this fic have, characters such as Harry, Hermione, Henry, Mel, Wyatt, Chris, etc.

Some of you might notice that I didn't give much importance to the five years Harry spent studying in SF with the Charmed Ones and their families, I apologize if you were expecting more on that part; but as I've explained to Brilliance of the Moon, the main part of this story is the war against Voldemort (that doesn't mean the Charmed-Families won't be important).

I hope the explanation I gave about Hermione's situation is understandable, I wanted to give her an important role, as Harry's girl, and thought it was a good idea to be this way.

I also hope you liked how their arrival to Hogwarts went. As you've seen, even if the twins are once more in the same place they aren't in the same House (it would have been too complicated to have both trios in Gryffindor, and I had already contemplated giving importance to all four houses by putting important characters there). There's also the fact that they are all now in an environment where Harry's existence won't be ignored the way it has for most of his infancy, and that will have certain effects…

For those who want to know what to expect in future chapters I'll give you two clues: the first one is more of a warning, the following three chapters will be sort of a quick overview of the events in the first six years of them all; as most of it will remain the same I saw no need to write too much about it, the only long scenes there will be of the things that will be changed (as I had already said before). And number two, the only clue I'll give you, at least for a time: pay close attention to the things the Sorting Hat said to our new trio, they are important, and they hold certain facts of things that will be important in the main plot of this story.

Well, that's all for now. Leave reviews soon and you'll know of me again soon as well.

_Adieu. _


	4. Hard Decisions

**Chapter 3. Hard Decisions **

The magic instruction began for many children that day, even if for three certain kids it wasn't really the first time they studied such topics.

The time passed and Harry, Hermy and Henry quickly became known as a trio, even when the last of them belonged to a different house they were seen together most of the time. To the point where sometimes Henry could be seen in the Ravenclaw Common Room, and those from that house didn't really seem to mind.

But there was another trio that quickly became famous, and that was maybe because one of the members was the famous: Harvey Potter, the one all the Magic Community called 'The Boy Who Lived'; the other two were Ronald (Ron) Weasley and Lavender Brown, both who had quickly become his best friends.

Those from Ravenclaw quickly discovered that even if the Potter in their House wasn't the famous one, he still had a lot to offer, as well as his friend Hermione. They both demonstrated to be quite clever, being always the firsts to get most of the spells right; when they weren't hanging out with their Hufflepuff friend, Henry, they could be found each reading one book or another while sitting next to each other in companionable silence.

.---.

So the time passed, in Halloween appeared a troll, Lavender was attacked by it and fainted at the sight of the monster. Harry and Hermy arrived right then and used their own powers to defeat the creature and make sure the other girl was alright; then left when Henry told them teachers were approaching.

The three children uncovered the mystery, at the same time the Gryffindor trio did, and went after them into the secret passages. Henry was the one who healed Ron's injury after the chess game, while Harry went ahead to fight the evil Quirrell after his twin brother fell unconscious and Hermy sent a message to Professor Dumbledore so he would know there was trouble in Hogwarts and he needed to return.

Still, after the whole ordeal was over, Harvey, Ron and Lavender were the ones rewarded for what was done, while what the other three had done remained unknown to them all. But they didn't care, they hadn't done it because they expected something in payment, or even a thank you, just because they were used to helping others with their powers; it was what they had learnt to do their whole life.

.---.

The next year there was a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who seemed to love the attention he usually got, and loved to fawn over Harvey as well. Harry could only thank God it wasn't him instead.

When the roosters died and the first student was petrified the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff trio took it upon themselves to resolve the mystery. It was quite a difficult one, and matters definitely took a turn for the worse when Hermione ended up petrified too one day.

Harry was very hard upon himself because of that, constantly berating himself for not having been there for her, insisting that she was his charge and should have taken better care of her. So Henry told him that then the only way to correct his mistake would be to get Hermione out of the petrified state. That was enough to get Harry to work even harder than before in finding the one responsible for everything.

And when Henry's words weren't enough to easy Harry's mind, something else was. One morning he found a semi-transparent Hermy floating next to his bed. For a second he feared she had died, until he understood he was seeing her astral-self. Apparently her body had been petrified, but thanks to her being a white-witch she could still use that power to contact Harry; it didn't last forever, and she still had to return to her body once in a while to get a rest, but at least it helped Harry.

So, they found out about the Chamber of Secrets, the Heir of Slytherin, the basilisk and all the other little mysteries in between. Henry was seriously considering getting some help from one of their parents or at least the older children when they got notice Ginny Weasley had been kidnapped by Slytherin's Heir; they were running out of time.

By the time the Gryffindor trio solved the mystery and found their way into the Chamber of Secrets, Tom Riddle and his basilisk had both been defeated by Harry, Henry had completely healed Ginny's injuries (as well as the ones Harry had attained during the fight), and they both left to return to their friend's side in the infirmary before anyone could know it had been them down there.

And once again Harvey and company were congratulated for something they didn't do, things they didn't even know how they had happened.

.---.

Third year came, and thankfully it wasn't as nerve-wracking as the previous ones. Even with the troubles there were due to a certain hippogriff and several other minor things, there was nothing too worrying.

Even when Hermione took so many more classes than his two friends they didn't comment on it, Harry had easily found out how she was doing it and promised to keep the secret for her, and Henry thought it was Harry's duty to take care of the girl, not his.

The only bad thing was when Harry informed his two best-friends of the prophecy Professor Trelawney, their Divination Professor had done one night; about a servant returning to his Dark Master, which certainly seemed to be warning them about Voldemort. Even when Henry had tried to insist that that Professor wasn't truly a prophetess, Phoebe's girls had soon backed up the prophecy, which only served to make the adults insist the kids to be careful, none of them wanted to see them hurt.

.---.

Fourth year was an entirely different matter. Beginning with the fact that most of the students got a great surprise when they saw a girl join the third year, her name was Melinda Halliwell and she was sorted into Hufflepuff. As hard as it may have been for Henry to accept it, he knew Mel's powers would definitely come in-handy if they had as much trouble as they feared there might be.

The next surprise was when they were told Hogwarts would be hosting the great Triwizard Tournament that year. One champion from each magic school: Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons was to be chosen. The real problem came when along with Viktor Krum from Durmstrang, and Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons, two champions were chosen by the Goblet of Fire to represent Hogwarts: Cedric Diggory and Harvey Potter.

After that the quartet took it upon themselves to help both Hogwarts champions as much as they could. So Henry and Mel would often offer Cedric some help with one topic or another saying that they knew more about it because they read about such things at home. The other two helped Harvey, though they didn't let the boy know it; Hermy usually astral-projected into his dreams to teach him new things, and every once in a while Harry would send a book about a specific topic; that way they helped Harry's younger twin without him knowing.

In the winter holidays came the Yule Ball, it came as a great surprise when Viktor Krum came forth and invited Hermione, explaining he had seen her in the library and admired her great dedication to her studies, this flustered the girl, who shyly agreed to go to the ball with him. Harry was a bit overprotective of Hermione, but preferred not to say a thing, after all, it was only a ball, he himself would be going with Mel, as she was really the only girl besides Hermy with whom he felt comfortable. Henry, in the other hand, had invited a very pretty looking Hufflepuff to be his date.

The first two tasks of the Tournament passed without that much of a trouble, the real trouble came with the third task. The four friends had been waiting in the last row for the students to come out of the maze. They had worried when seeing the red sparks and then seeing a teacher bring out Fleur, and then Viktor as well, meaning that only the two Hogwarts's champions remained inside the maze.

Suddenly Harry could feel the presence of his brother vanishing, that made him panic almost immediately, something had gone wrong…really wrong.

"Harry, Harry listen to me." Hermy called to him, shaking him by the shoulders. "You've got to calm down, ok? I know you're worried for your brother, but you need to have a clear mind if you want to help him, alright?"

Hermione's words seemed to ring a bell in Harry's mind and he finally reacted, he knew she was right. He needed to have a leveled mind or his magic wouldn't work properly.

"Very well." Hermione said. "Now concentrate and locate Harvey, then we can get there and do what we can to help him."

"We?" Henry asked raising his brow.

"Yes." Hermy nodded without doubt. "I'm going with Harry to help him. It'll be your own decision if you come as well or stay here."

That was more than enough. Being a silent and subtle as they possibly could all four of them left the bleachers and hid behind a wall.

Harry easily located his brother and then with some help from Henry they all orbed to the location, a creepy graveyard some miles away from Hogwarts.

As soon as they appeared, behind some headstones Harry could feel a dark presence he had just felt twice before in his life: the most recent on his first year in Hogwarts, when saving his brother; and the first, when he had been just one-year-old.

"Kill the spare…" They barely heard a creepy voice say those words.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Stop!"

The dreaded spell had been shot by a Death Eater, barely half-a-second before the youngest white-witch raised her hands and cried out, activating her inherited power just in time.

Being immune to the 'temporal-ecstasies' Mel provoked the teenagers quickly approached the scene, they were able to see the green-light suspended in mid-air, just some inches in front of the older champion, Cedric.

Hermy didn't wait for someone to tell her, she just concentrated for a second and the magic-shot flew up and lost in the night-sky.

"What now?" Henry asked.

They really had no idea.

"You better think quickly because even if these people aren't like us they're still wizards, I doubt my power will hold them much longer." Mel warned them.

"We need to get them out 'a here, but how?" Hermy asked. "If we just orbed them back to Hogwarts it would look too suspicious. I don't think we can afford blowing up our covers, at least not yet."

"The Elders definitely wouldn't be too happy if that were to happen…" Henry commented, and then as a second thought added. "Though it's not like they're helping us, either."

"Very well, if we can't get them out, then I'll take his place." Harry declared.

"What?!" That shocked them all greatly.

"What you heard." Harry replied simply. "Voldemort wants a fight with the boy-who-lived, he'll get it; even if not with the one he had been expecting."

"But…" Hermy began.

"No buts…" Harry interrupted them. "I want you to hide, and take my brother with you. The moment this whole thing unfreezes I want you, Henry, to summon Cedric to you, then I want you all to orb back to Hogwarts, I'll catch up with you as soon as I can, ok?"

They all knew it wasn't ok, but they really didn't have time to argue.

Henry used a simple spell to put Harvey to sleep and then they pulled the boy behind a big mausoleum so they could hide.

The moment the whole thing 'unfroze', as Harry put it, he saw how Cedric disappeared in the blue light of Henry's powers; thought, regretfully, his distraction was enough for the Death Eater that was there to send him against a tall tombstone and immobilize him.

It was when Harry was trying to clear up his thoughts that he could sense a presence was still in the graveyard.

'Hermy…' Harry thought. 'Why didn't she leave?'

"I can't leave you Harry, you should know that by now." The astral-Hermione next to him told him concerned. "You know I would be now fighting these guys if you would just let me."

"No." Harry mumbled in a low voice. "My battle…not yours…"

Harry knew he couldn't talk much, out of fear of being heard by his captor.

"Why don't you just orb out of your binds?" Hermione asked. "The more you stay there, the more in danger you'll be."

"I know…just…trust me…" Harry whispered back.

Due to his talk with his charge he hadn't heard the talking the chubby man before him, whom most called Wormtail, otherwise known as Petter Pettigrew, had said.

He did felt when a knife cut through a vein in his arms, making him bleed. That hurt, though Harry didn't let any sign of it show, he wasn't going to show any weakness in front of those evil men.

Everything passed in a blur from then on. Harry was conscious of seeing a man step out of what looked like some kind of cauldron, Lord Voldemort no doubt, and then the Death Eaters came, and he had to duel with the Dark Lord.

It was after almost ten minutes dueling that Harry knew he had to get out of that place, the problem was he didn't know how.

Right then he could see Hermione's astral-form somehow materialize in between some DE, causing great uproar. She vanished just a second afterwards and the real Hermy jumped from behind a tombstone, using her telekinesis to send Voldemort and the closest DE backwards.

"Lets go!" She yelled to Harry.

He didn't even wait a second more, he immediately took hold of her hand and orbed them out of the graveyard and back to Hogwarts.

Back in Hogwarts there was a great commotion regarding what had just happened. Henry and the rest managed to leave Cedric and Harvey where they could be seen by everyone while they themselves appeared in a hidden area.

Everyone had been quite relieved that there had no been any casualties; though the relief didn't last long. They soon found out that their 'Professor Moody' was in fact an impostor, a DE that had been sent to spy on Harvey and was the one responsible for the two boys having ended up in that graveyard.

Dumbledore and some others heard the man talk about what had happened in the cemetery, before sending him off to Azkaban. The problem was that when they questioned the young boy he said he didn't remember a thing.

That is explained easily because he wasn't there, but no one knew that, and eventually they got to the conclusion that as the whole even had been a truly shocking experienced the boy had blocked all the memories of it. At least they had the story from the DE's lips, otherwise they wouldn't even know such a thing had happened.

.---.

After the whole disaster had ended (at least for the moment being) the quarter had a late secret meeting to discuss what had happened, and the measures that should be taken from that moment forwards to ensure their safety and everyone else's.

"What are we going to do now?" Hermione asked.

"What do you mean?" Henry asked. "Why should we do anything at all?"

"Because we can, that's why." Hermy replied. "We have the power, if not to stop that evil man, at least to help others fight him. It's our responsibility, remember? 'Protect the Innocent' That's what we were told always."

"You're conscious this is not our battle?" Henry asked her.

"But it is." Hermy insisted. "It is 'cause we're here. Harry and I were called to this school…"

"And my brother is involved in this as well." Harry interfered right then. "My brother is being targeted by a man who believes him to be responsible for what's happened in previous years, especially what happened that night thirteen years ago. We all know that wasn't really my brother's doing, but my own. Yet I've let them believe it was him, because I never really wanted to be famous, and because I thought I had enough with being a white-lighter and having to fight off demons once-in-a-while. But I can't continue ignoring the fact that what I did that night had consequences; some good, some bad. The real problem is that those bad consequences are now hunting other people, especially my little brother. I can't let that happen guys. I can't have him suffer just because I didn't want to accept my responsibility in all this. I won't have him hurt because of me."

"You mean you'll tell everyone you were the one who defeated that evil man that night?" Mel asked, slightly confused as to what Harry meant.

"No, who would believe me if I did?" Harry asked. "I was only one-year-old. With the powers I have as white-lighter I know what happened, but I can't possibly tell that to others without getting in some trouble. No, I will continue doing things the way I have until now. I will continue protecting Harvey and his friends from the shadows, even if he doesn't know it is me, as long as he's alright…"

"But it's not fair." Mel complained. "I mean, he's always taking the credit of what you do. I remember what you told me of the Philosopher's Stone, and the Chamber of Secrets, and then during the tasks of this Tournament."

"That's alright Mel." Harry assured her. "I already told you I never wanted the fame, I'm fine with being someone anonymous, with helping others from the shadows; very much like your mother and aunts do. I like that kind of life. And even if I really don't like having to fight, I will do it to protect those I care about."

"I'm with you." Hermione declared right then. "And before anyone tries to object. Harry, you may be my white-lighter, but that doesn't mean you have to approve of my every decision, I already said it before. I won't leave you. I was invited to this school as well, and I believe it was for some reason. This may just be it. To protect this school from that Dark Lord and his DE. No matter what the dangers may be, I seriously doubt it'll be worse than us fighting demons back in San Francisco. And I'm absolutely sure, my parents would approve of this, and if not completely, at least they would understand."

"You're right there Hermy." Henry nodded. "I'm not backing now. You can count me in. I'm all ready to fight whoever may get on our way. Be it demon or DE."

"Ditto." Mel stepped forward as well. "I know I haven't proven to be the best with a wand this year, but I will do what I can."

"Don't underestimate yourself Mel." Hermy told her. "You're having trouble with a wand, but that's normal, you've been trying to learn three years in just one. And still, you're the best one of all of us in Potions. You just need to practice more in the others."

Mel nodded.

"Then it's all decided?" Harry asked.

They all nodded.

They were children, or more like teenagers, that's right; but that didn't mean they didn't know what they were getting themselves into. The dangers they would be facing, and still they were willing to face them.

.---.

Even if the four had made up their mind easily that night, it wasn't that easy to explain it to the Charmed Ones and the rest of the family. Harry had decided not to say a thing to his own family, he didn't believe it to be a good idea for whatever-the-reason.

Though at first most of the adults seemed to be renitent of the four facing that kind of dangers on their own (and Paige did her part by worrying over both Harry and her own son); in the end they knew there wasn't much they could do about it.

"Why can't we take this matter in our own hands?" Piper asked heatedly, once the kids had retired to their bedrooms.

"Because it's not our place to do so." Phoebe was the one to answer. "I know this is hard Piper sis, you'll probably say I don't know what you're feeling because my daughters aren't in the middle of this mess, and you're right. But I can tell you what my daughters said that night, when the kids began their classes in that school, they declared that Destiny had been set into motion. I'm sure you know what that means."

"They were destined to be a part of this 'whole mess'." Coop stepped in, using his wife's same words. "Not just Harry and Hermione, but Henry and Melinda too. That's why even being part of another magic-society they found their way to that school, and at this time too. I don't think any of this is a coincidence."

"They're right." Paige surprised everyone by speaking.

"What do you mean?" They all asked her.

"The Elders had told me, but I didn't understand it until now." Paige explained. "They all have great destinies to fulfill, just like we do as the Charmed Ones. The difference is that while our own destiny laid here, in San Francisco, theirs lays in England."

"Destiny…" Leo repeated. "Why does it all always fall there? Is it really all set up in stone?"

"No." Phoebe denied. "Fate isn't about something that was said would happen, it's just about a goal that must be reached. The goal will always be the same. What can be changed is the path that takes us to that goal. We have proven that the paths can be changed no matter what, we can choose an unexpected route and still reach the goal."

They knew what she meant, what had happened with Leo, during their last 'big battle'.

So that was set, the only thing they could do was wait…

* * *

Here I am once again. My thanks to all of you who have read and reviewed this fic of mine. As you can see, I'm taking things a bit fast right now, that's because things are staying basically the same thus far (even if some do them, and others get the credit for them). I'll slow done once I reach the seventh year. 

You must have noticed also I have added another character of the Charmed universe to the main part of the story: Mel. That was planned that way since the beginning, she'll be a very important character in the long-run, just you wait and you'll see.

Oh, someone asked me about the white-lighter's power of 'regeneration'. I'll explain more about that power, as well as Harry's power over the 'pure-energy' later on, when also some other characters will show special abilities.

Someone also commented about Henry being white-lighter to one of the Hogwarts' students, I'm not sure I'll be doing that; the story is complicated enough without adding that.

For those who may be wondering about the rest of those from Charmed, the Charmed Ones will be just secondary characters in this story, while some of their children will play an important part of the story, some, like Mel, Henry, and later on Billie, Wyatt, Chris and Bianca can be considered as main characters, just as much as Harry and Hermione.

You all may give ideas, but I can't promise you to use them all, though I'll try to use at least some of them; those that don't take me too much apart from my own idea. Right now I'm upon to suggestions mainly regarding the future of characters like Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall, Cho Chang, Viktor Krum, Percy and Charlie Weasley; and some others than are mostly secondary and I could give them a more important participation.

Well, as you already know by now, the next chapter shall come as soon as you've left enough reviews (about six or seven will do, at least for now).

_On the next chapter:_ Harry grows even more apart from his family when his brother is moved to a 'safer location'; the Charmed Ones bombard the teens with training so they're ready for the war against Voldemort (as they themselves chose to be part of it); a new DADA professor causes disaster in Hogwarts; and Harvey changes more than anyone would ever believe possible (it's time for the true him to rise).


	5. The Prophecy

**Chapter 4. The Prophecy **

Fifth year began in a definitely different way from all the previous years. While usually Harry would pass the summer with his own family, meet with the 'Charmed Family' in Diagon Alley when they went to buy the materials two weeks before the tem started, and then stay with them in the Leaky Cauldron, that year things were quite different.

Right after the twins' birthday Harry was informed that his brother would be moved to another location 'for safety', while he would spend the remainder of his holidays with his godmother. Harry supposed it had to do with what Harvey supposedly had gone through in the graveyard, but he was still happy that he would have a full month in San Francisco with his surrogate family, he loved those times.

However, what Harry hadn't been expecting was to be bombarded with training practically day and night. Apparently everyone there believed that if he and his friends had already made up their mind on getting themselves on a war against the Dark Lord and his lackeys, they would at least make sure the children were ready for what they would facing.

Hermione had gotten better at handling her telekinesis, and could make everyone see her when astral-projecting herself, though only for a little while; there was also the fact that she could project into someone else's dreams. Mel was getting better at handling her own powers, as was Henry. Harry had always surprised everyone with his abilities, the mix of powers he possessed really had no precedent whatsoever.

.---.

Great surprises where waiting for them all when the new year in Hogwarts began. First there was the fact that Harvey seemed somewhat quieter than the previous year, when he had been so proud of being part of the Triwizard Tournament. Then there was also the fact that the school in itself seemed to be somehow divided, between those who believed Voldemort had returned, to those who didn't. And to make matters worse their new DADA Professor was an awful-looking woman the Minister himself had assigned.

When classes with Professor Umbridge began none of the members of the quartet made any comment whatsoever, conscious that that woman was in Hogwarts for one sole reason; to find that who was spreading 'the lies' about Voldemort's return, and 'make him or her change his point of view' so the Ministry could get control of everything back.

The quartet had no intention of getting in the middle of that mess, thus far they had managed to remain in the anonymity, and they would continue acting from the shadows for as long as they possibly could.

The real problems began when Harry began feeling something strange in his hand, and when paying a late visit to his brother in the Gryffindor bedroom quarters he discovered the reason: his brother had gone through some kind of odd torture, which as a consequence had made the words 'I must not tell lies' become engraved in the back of his hand. As Harry really didn't know what was going on, he just used his powers to heal his brother's hand and returned to his dorm; however, he was more alert from then on.

The next time Harvey was given detention for an unfair reason Harry asked Mel for a sleeping potion and slipped it to his brother, after he had fallen asleep in his dorm Harry attended his detention. He then knew what that awful woman had been putting his brother through and he was absolutely enraged.

When the potion wore off Harvey was in panic, he ran to Umbridge's office, but before he got there someone pulled him into an empty classroom.

"Let…" Harvey began, but his mouth was covered.

"Calm down Harvey, it's me." Harry told him.

"I don't have time, I'm already late as it is…I'm going to be in trouble." Anyone could see Harvey was really distressed.

"No, you're not." Harry assured him. "I took your place in detention."

"You…that means you already know…"

"Yes. Do our parents know what's happening to you? Does anyone at all know what that woman is putting you through?"

"No."

"Why not Harvey? I really don't think torture like the one that woman uses is even legal in this country."

"Because no one can know! What will they think? What will they think if they know the Boy-Who-Lived, goes through such things? Just imagine. I just can't let them know Harry. With everyone over me because of what supposedly happened in the graveyard…"

"Supposedly?"

"Yes. I have no idea what really happened, but everyone is sure I was there, everyone is sure I stopped You-Know-Who! That's impossible."

It was there that Harry understood just how different he and his twin brother really were. While for Harry it was normal to think of fighting the Dark Lord, Harvey was too afraid to even imagine standing up to him. It was so ironic…

"Ok, ok." Harry finally spoke again. "Listen to me Harvey, I won't tell mom, dad, or anyone else what's happening, at least not for now, ok. But you've got to do something about it, soon. For the moment being, I want you to take care of yourself, try not to get detention, try hard not to anger any teacher, especially Umbridge, and if you're given detention, after you've finished it look for me or one of my friends, we'll help you with your hand, Ok?"

Harvey just nodded.

.---.

Harvey did as he was told, he never really had problems in finding either Harry or sometimes Mel, though that was obviously because they tried to be near him when he needed their help. They never really told Harvey what kind of magic they used to healed his hand, he thought it may be something like what Madame Pomfrey used.

Harry didn't like the idea of his brother going through that kind of tortures, but his attention was diverted a certain night near the holidays when he had a dream of a certain big snake attacking a man he believed was father to his brother's best friend.

Harry woke up in panic, so much that Hermy could feel it through their link as white-lighter and charge and went to see him. They were thinking about how to let others know what had happened (because they knew it had really happened), when they discovered that Professor Dumbledore already knew. Apparently because they were twins, Harvey had also seen what Harry in his dreams, it was a connection between them, just like when Harry had felt the consequences of Umbridge's punishment in his own hand.

Harvey left Hogwarts that very same night, he was really distressed for everything that had happened, with the dream, and his best friend's father injured. Harry would probably have been the same way if he wasn't already used to that kind of things (just considering the kind of demons sometimes appeared in front of the Halliwell manor…).

The next morning Harry received a letter that his brother was alright and staying with his godfather. His house was empty, so it was best for his own safety if he stayed at Hogwarts for the holidays or went to his godmother's house. Harry decided on the later, he really didn't like the idea of staying in Hogwarts with the way things had been lately.

The quartet left the school in the Hogwarts's Express, however, before they found a secluded area from where to orb to the Halliwell manor they decided to go see the man who had been attacked the previous night. Harry had a feeling that his and Mel's abilities could really be of help for him.

They made it to St. Mungo's Hospital with no problem thanks to Henry's unique ability at finding places, even when he had never before been there. Once there they had no problem with finding Arthur Weasley's room. The problem came when they saw the real extent of his injuries, it wasn't the kind of thing they could get done instantly.

In the end it was decided that Henry would use his powers to make sure no one walked in on them while the others were working; Hermione created a spell to vanish the evil the creature had injected on the man when biting him; and the other two used their healing abilities to their max level.

They could all feel the exhaustion, they had never attempted something that big. It was pretty obvious the creature that had attacked Arthur was not a normal beast, for the wounds it had inflicted were far more difficult to heal than a normal animal bite. And the evil essence that impregnated the wounds was also very strong.

They continued working at their pace until suddenly, when feeling they had already given their all for it to work, Harry and Hermy poured their very soul-energy into what they were doing. Setting all hell lose (figuratively).

Henry couldn't hold the magic back any longer, the moment Harry and Hermy freed their highest power it created a ripple that could be felt in the whole hospital.

Mel was also taken aback when she felt the power emanating from her friends and practically-family to both of her sides.

Harry and Hermy opened their eyes, they could feel their energies and very consciousness leaving them, yet they knew they had done the right thing. The last thing they could feel was as someone held them from behind and the sensation of being orbed away.

The door to the hospital room opened violently as almost half 'a dozen medi-wizards entered, very concerned of their patient's state. However, the only thing they barely managed to see was two young men as they held each two others and vanished in a haze of blue sparks. Though what really left them all in shock was when they turned to see the patient and found him asleep, his breathing was calm and even, as if he were perfectly healthy; and it was then that he noticed he indeed was perfectly healthy, his wounds had vanished, completely healed. Nothing but very-light scars remained.

.---.

When Harry awoke the first thing he was conscious of was that he was laying in his bed, not in Hogwarts but in the Halliwell manor, the next was that for some reason, in the bed next to his was laying Henry.

Ever so slowly so as not to provoke a faint spell on himself or have dizziness overwhelm him Harry straightened up in his bed, took his glasses for the bedside table and put them on. When he looked around he could see someone currently sleeping in the third bed of the room, though he had the feeling he wasn't comfortable in that position.

"So you're awake now." A voice commented from the door.

Harry turned in time to see Chris entering the room, he too noticed the one on the other bed, it was his elder brother.

"Let him sleep. He was up practically all night to make sure you and Henry were alright." Chris said as-a-matter-of-fact. "The same can be said from mom taking care of Hermy and Mel. You all gave us a pretty big scare."

"Sorry…" Harry mumbled.

"Don't worry." Chris replied easily, he lead Harry out the room. "Wyatt and I could feel the moment your power exceeded the average level, we thought you must be in some terrible danger and so went looking for you. We just orbed inside the hospital, took hold of you all and then orbed back to the manor, though in what little time we stayed there we did see the man in the bed. A friend of yours?"

"He's Mr. Arthur Weasley." Harry explained. "Father to my brother's best friend. I thought we could help him and the others agreed."

"I understand. And let me tell you you did a great job."

"Really?" Harry smiled excitedly at that.

"Yes, though you did overexert yourself as well, all four of you did. You were asleep for a full day and night straight."

"That bad, eh?"

"Yes. Aunt Paige is currently dealing with the Elders, apparently none of them were expecting the power-outburst both you and Hermy had. Though I don't think you have to worry about them much really…"

"More about what Aunt Piper will say once we're all awake."

"Yes. She was very distressed when seeing the state all four of you arrived in. Dad is currently handling matters with the restaurant, and making his best at making sure mom eats and sleeps as well, but it's not easy."

"I'm sorry. I never intended to cause so many problems."

"We know Harry, we know…"

.---.

As predicted all four teenagers had to endure almost a full hour of lecture coming from Piper and from Paige as well, they both had been pretty worried for the teens.

After the lecture was over Paige told them the Elders had decided to leave things the way they were, but they still expected Hermione and Harry to be careful from then on to prevent any possible accident from happening.

Once that whole ordeal was over the teens 'punishment' was to pass the rest of the holidays studying and training to make sure they wouldn't lose control of their powers ever again. That, along with the school's homework, was almost too much for the teens, but they knew they had gotten in that mess themselves.

Also in those holidays Harry had a talk with one of the Elders, a man called Johansen (Johan), whom he knew pretty well. He asked the Elder for his help to create a shield inside his mind so he could block the Dark Lord from having any influence in him. They worked in complete secret, Harry didn't want to have others worrying for him, or bothering him because he for some reason seemed to have a link with the Dark Lord that was almost as powerful as the one he had with his twin brother.

The shield was created in Harry's mind, and it seemed to be working just fine, at least until June, when another 'influenced dream' brought more problems that anyone could have ever imagined possible.

Harvey had received the dream too, of his godfather: Sirius Black, being attacked by DE in some part of the Ministry of Magic known as the Department of Mysteries.

When Harry felt his brother along with some of his friends leave Hogwarts he knew that they had to be fast or things would get out of their hands. Hermione immediately wrote a message and Henry used his orbiting-telekinesis to send it to Dumbledore. Then the four of them orbed to the Ministry of Magic.

The whole place was a mess. It soon became obvious the whole thing had been a trap set up by Voldemort to get 'something' that only he and the boy-who-lived could touch. He'd already discovered his connection to the boy and used it to lure him to that place. However, he hadn't been expecting said boy to arrive accompanied by his friends, friends that had had the whole year to learn how to defend themselves, and even if they weren't exactly aurors they didn't do bad against the DE.

The battle was hard and difficult, Lavender fell unconscious when a spell hit her in an arm, Ron was semi-unconscious and incapable of moving due to another spell. Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood did their best to protect their friends while Harvey and Neville handled the most powerful DE. Surprisingly enough the boy most knew for being shy and clumsy had proven to be quite skillful and brave when he was motivated. Harvey, on the other hand, was about to panic, but did his best not to let it show.

Harry and company appeared in a hidden part of the Ministry and immediately split to help. Henry and Mel went to the bigger group of students that were still being attacked, and without being noticed defeated the DE and healed the two who had been injured. Harry and Hermione on the other side went straight to where they knew Harvey was in trouble.

A DE used an Expelliarmus spell to send Harvey flying against some shelves, the moment he was out of view-range for the DE, Hermy pulled him to a hiding place (as he was unconscious he didn't notice her), while Harry stepped out in his brother's place (again).

Voldemort was slightly surprised that the boy who had a moment ago been in panic suddenly stood up to him and fought him off bravely and skillfully, yet he didn't comment on that fact, assuring himself that in the end he was just a kid.

The real problem came when Dumbledore and a group of Aurors arrived in the children's aid, even if they were quite a help against most of the DE their presence put in danger Harry's identity, he felt it wasn't yet time to reveal the truth about him, not yet.

Harry used the opportunity when a spell from a DE pushed him behind some more fallen shelves to sneak out of view; right as his brother recovered consciousness and began making his way out of his own hiding spot.

Harry was about to call out to Hermy through their link when he could see her, she had just saved Sirius Black from falling behind a creepy-looking veil that was in a corner on the room, and ended up falling herself through it.

Harry didn't think twice, not even once about any risks or possible consequences for himself, the only thing in his mind was to save his cha…no, his friend; and with that, he jumped behind her and into the dark pit.

Harry felt as if some strange darkness were enveloping him, as if it wanted to drown him, but he knew he couldn't give up; it wasn't only his life at risk, but also Hermy's, he had to save her, he had to save the both of them.

With that Harry suddenly felt warmth fill him and a sort of glow guide him through the pitch dark and to where Hermione seemed to be floating. He managed to get himself there, held her close to him and concentrated in orbing both of them out 'a there.

.---.

The next thing Harry knew he was laying against some cushions in the Room of Requirement. Next to him was Hermy, and he was still holding her hand tightly. To his other side was Mel, she was currently using her powers to heal any injury he may have gotten during his duel with Voldemort and his minions.

Harry had all the intentions of getting some very needed and deserved sleep when suddenly a gasp coming from Henry called his attention.

"What is it?" He asked in a whisper, surprising Mel.

"I just suggest you brace yourselves because back home they already know what happened tonight." Henry told them.

Harry knew he meant: 'They already know what You did', which meant he was in for another lecture and scolding session.

'And yet I don't care…' Harry thought to himself. 'I did what was needed to ensure her safety. Hermy…my best friend…'

As expected, the Charmed Ones, Wyatt and Chris arrived to London the following day, and taking advantage of the fact that the kids had a visit to Hogsmeade they met them in a hidden cave near the road and used that time to scold them all for taking such dangers. Harry just accepted the lecture in silence.

"Aren't you gonna say something Harry?" Chris asked when his mother finished talking.

The two elder boys, but especially Chris knew Harry well enough to know when he wanted to do or say something and wasn't sure if it was a good idea.

"Yes." Harry finally made up his mind. "With all due respect, I thank you for your worry, to all of you, I'm sorry for giving trouble…"

"You're not any trouble Harry, dear…" Paige murmured.

However, she didn't say more because Phoebe made a silent signal to her, suspecting there was more that the boy wanted to say.

"As I was saying, I'm sorry." Harry continued. "Yet…I don't regret it. I don't regret what I did last night. I don't regret that I went to the Ministry to protect my brother, I don't regret that I had to fight Voldemort; and especially, I don't regret having jumped behind that creepy veil-thing, because I did it to save Hermy." He sighed. "I know you're all worried that we may have died. But it was my decision to take that risk. And it doesn't have to do with the fact that Hermy may be my charge, it's because she's my friend, and friends will always help each other no matter what."

"Thanks Harry…" Hermy embraced him and then stepped to his right. "Remember that I will always do the same for you."

Harry nodded with a soft smile.

"I said it before as well, I'm not backing out." Henry declared stepping to Harry's left, then turned to his mother. "Sorry mom, but as with Harry, this is my choice."

"And mine." Mel added stepping to Hermy's other side.

"Well, it seems you've all made your minds…" Piper sighed.

She wasn't angry for the children's decision, none of them were, though they were definitely worried for the dangers they would have to face.

"Well." Phoebe said. "I think it's time you know something else. It's something Coop and I discovered not too long ago and we had been waiting for the right time for the rest of you to find out…" She turned to her offspring. "Girls…"

At that Phoebe's and Coop's three daughters, Patience, Colleen and Grace, stepped forward and began reciting as one:

"The one with power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the dark lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…And either must die at the hands of the other for neither can live while the other survives…The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…."

* * *

Here it is, Harry's and company's fifth year (and Mel's fourth); and the beginning to Harry's and Hermy's more-serious relationship. 

I think I had said it before, and I repeat it now, Harvey isn't evil, he is just the way he was raised up to be; but now he's seeing how things truly are, he's maturing, in a way Harry did since he was very young (how not to when he grew up with the Charmed-children?).

_Next chapter:_ A great pressure has fallen upon Harry now that he knows about the prophecy and there's only one person that can help him relax; Mel's good heart will be tested and she may be able to save an innocent soul; while a long-awaited battle may change the future in more ways than one. (Sixth year coming!).


	6. Dreaded Night

**Chapter 5. Dreaded Night **

Harry wasn't sure if he would be able to handle the pressure. Ever since that afternoon in that cave near Hogsmeade, when the three 'Fates' had revealed the Prophecy to those present he had been feeling as if he carried the weight of the whole world upon his shoulders.

He was perfectly conscious that he wasn't the only one who had been born at that date, there were other people, like his brother for example; but he seriously doubted anyone else had a scar like the one on his forehead.

Maybe the only reason his parents hadn't made a fuss yet was because they didn't even know that scar existed at all, truth be told Harry had recently begun to doubt if they sometimes even remembered he existed. It wasn't that he doubted his family, or didn't love them, he just had the feeling that they most of the times didn't even notice him. Almost always that had proved to be beneficial, especially concerning his position as a white-lighter and all the battles he had had against lesser (and some not so lesser) demons.

"You know you can't just go on keeping everything to yourself…" A voice whispered to him in a soothing voice.

Harry didn't even need to turn around to know it was Hermione. It didn't surprise it, even if he was currently in Canterbury, England, and not San Francisco; she had become pretty good at her astral-projection.

"I know, but it's not like I have that many people around to whom confide my problems, and I can't exactly orb to SF every day." Harry replied casually.

"You have me…" Hermione reminded him. "Remember what I told you that day, I'll always remain by your side."

"You shouldn't have to put aside your own activities, your own needs for me…" Harry told her, still without turning around. "I'm supposed too…"

"You yourself said this wasn't supposed to be about you being my white-lighter, but about us being friends." Hermione interrupted him softly. "And as friends, we both have the right to look after each other." She put her hand in his shoulder. "Now that we have that clear, will you tell me what's wrong?"

"It's just that sometimes I feel this is just too much…" Harry admitted, laying his hand on top of Hermy's. "Everyone expects so much of me; in SF because I'm the youngest white-lighter ever chosen, and here in England because of all the boy-who-lived thing. Even if they don't really know it's me, I can't exactly leave my little brother on his own, Harvey isn't the one supposed to carry this burden but me, that was left clear with the prophecy the girls revealed to us that day in Hogsmeade."

"Ok, so you're sure you have to do this. But are you sure you have to go through it alone?"

Harry didn't answer.

It was then that Hermione held him by the shoulder, made him turn to face him and then held his face by the chin with one of her hands so he couldn't evade her eyes. The movement was so sudden Harry move his arms and held himself to Hermione's forearms, almost as if he were preventing himself from crashing against her.

"Harry…you don't have to do this alone…" Hermione whispered to him in such a low tone anyone would believe she was afraid to be heard by others. "I'm here with you…always…"

Ever so slowly the space between seem to lessen, until their noses were touching. They knew what was happening wasn't something that usually happened between friends, but at the same time they couldn't imagine a reason why it could be wrong, none at all. Their lips brushed ever so lightly, and suddenly a knock on the door brought them out of their daydream.

"Young master Harry?" The house-elf, Biri, called through the door. "Dinner is ready, young master Harry."

House-elves could teleport everywhere but the Potters had always told Biri how important it was to respect their privacy, and she did. That was why she could teleport from one room to another in the house, but never inside bedrooms.

"I'm coming Biri." Harry called as he turned to the door.

When he turned back he just sighed at the empty space, Hermione was already gone.

.---.

The rest of the summer went by quite smoothly, or as smooth as it can go with the Potters in high-alert at all times, almost expecting a group of DE to barge inside and kill them all.

The tension reached such a high point it was really a relief when the day for the return to Hogwarts finally came.

Neither Harry nor Hermione made a comment about what had happened in his room that day, it was almost as if it had never happened; though deep in their minds and hearts they knew it had, and that it had had great consequences, some that hadn't showed yet.

Henry and Mel knew nothing of what had happened between the other two, and they really couldn't see any difference in their relationship so they said nothing either.

What shocked practically everyone that year was to find out Snape had finally gotten the post he had desired for so long; the post as DADA teacher, while they had gotten a new Potions Professor: Mr. Horace Slughorn.

Having Snape as the new DADA Professor was certainly one of the worst tortures either of the Potter boys could have ever imagined. Yet they were at that moment going through too much to give it much importance.

Harry noticed his brother became very close with Professor Dumbledore, and after a quick travel from Hermione into his dreams she informed Harry and the rest that he had been talking to Dumbledore about one Tom Marvolo Riddle. They all knew that was the name Voldemort had had when he still was human (or as human as someone such as him can be). So they didn't linger on it, concentrating instead in training so they would be ready to face Voldemort the moment he decided to attack.

A new Minister came to power: Rufus Scrimgeour. He tried to do everything in his power to get Harvey to his side, and Harry could see his brother was having a hard time getting rid of the annoying man. It seemed that finally Harvey had understood that fame wasn't all others made it out to be, especially not when along with it came an evil man that had you on the top of his 'to kill' list.

Most of the year passed really without much news, except the often attacks from DE of course, and in which sometimes Harry and company would try to help, always anonymously, just like the Charmed Ones had taught them to work.

It surprised them all that Mel wasn't that close to them anymore. When they weren't fighting off evil and she didn't have any homework or class she would just disappear. Hermy, who was her best friend, only told the boys she was helping 'a friend' of hers, but not even she seemed to know who that friend was.

As the year approached its end Harry got a feeling things would be taking a turn to the wild side, to the dangerous side. Even Phoebe had sent them a letter telling them to be careful, that she could sense danger very close to them; its obvious that she didn't try to get them to hide and 'remain safe', but it didn't hurt for them to be warned either. A warning in time could save their lives, and others' as well.

.---.

The danger became finally real one night. Harry had felt when his brother left Hogwarts but didn't worry that much as he knew he had gone with Dumbledore to some 'special mission'. With some help from Hermy to get him in his brother's dreams he had been training Harvey without the other boy knowing, so at least Harry was sure his brother knew how to take care of himself should something happen.

And it definitely happened.

Harry was standing at the top of one of the castle's towers, the fresh wind billowing around him, helping him concentrate in what he was feeling. And then he knew it: danger…DE were inside Hogwarts…

"Harry!" Hermione astral-projected right next to him in that moment.

"I know." Harry turned around immediately. "This is what we've been dreading for months. We must do as we planned. No matter what, even if we end up blowing our covers, we can't let those DE get what they want here tonight; no one will die as long as at least one of us is able to fight."

Hermione nodded and a second later vanished.

The battle began just seconds later.

For Mel's suggestion they were all wearing white cloaks with the hoods up and golden masks to cover their faces, it was like the DE, but opposite. They began helping others from between the shadows, but a moment came when they had to act openly. And even then, no one was able to recognize them with the cloaks.

Harry and Henry fought DE as best as they could, along with Hermione; once again Mel was nowhere in sight.

All of a sudden they could see Snape pass by. Harry had heard some of his brother's friends say that the girl Lavender and another girl called Luna were standing guard outside his room, then why weren't those girls there?

Harry instantly knew something was wrong.

Hermione seemed to notice it too because she immediately ran after the DADA Professor, barely managing to dodge all the hexes others threw in her direction. She soon reached what seemed like a very strong barrier, tried to pass and instead crashed against it. But right as her body hit the ground she concentrated and left it, willing her astral form to appear beyond the barrier. It did.

Harry couldn't help but smile at Hermy's ingenious plan, she was definitely the cleverest of them all, he just hoped she would manage to protect whoever was on the top of that tower, on her own.

.---.

Hermione smile to herself as she felt Harry's concern for her, she knew the DE were blocking the pass into the room, so she used her levitation to go out through a window, hoping she would be able to get into the main room the same way. She did.

Hermy stopped on the edge of the window, silently, contemplating the situation before acting, she knew she couldn't be rash. There were four DE there against the Headmaster and Harvey (whom she couldn't see but feel); also she could sense one of the DE was a werewolf, and noticed another was just a boy, her age…Malfoy…

Her contemplations were interrupted when finally Professor Snape made his entrance, it had taken him quite some time to get there, Hermy thought.

"We've got a problem Snape," one of the DE told the arriving Professor. "The boy doesn't seem able to…"

"Severus…" someone else called the man's name.

Hermione couldn't help but gasp when seeing Professor Dumbledore, he looked so battered up, it was obvious to anyone he was in no condition to fight those in the room. But the most unnerving was maybe his tone of voice, it sounded almost as if he were…pleading…

"Severus…please…" Dumbledore whispered.

The moment Snape raised his wand Hermione knew exactly what he was about to do, and that it didn't include saving the old Headmaster; she also knew she had to act right away, before it were too late.

'I have no idea if this is going to work…' she thought to herself. 'But I can't just see him be killed by the one man he trusted so much…I just can't.'

Hermy didn't even stop to think just in how great a danger she was putting herself, even being in astral form there was a very good chance the curse would still kill her, or worse…Yet it was the only thing she could do.

Right as the green flash of light was about to hit the fallen Headmaster a white figure stepped in between, receiving the flash of light in its one gloved hands.

Time seemed to stop for a second.

And then everyone in the room gasped when seeing the green ball of light still in mid-air, just some millimeters away from a pair of white-gloved hands that belonged to a white-cloaked figure standing before Dumbledore.

"Who the hell are you?!" Snape yelled at her.

"One that won't let you kill this man." Hermy calmly told him as she concentrated and sent the spell sideways, out the window and into the black sky, where it would hurt no one.

She really had no idea from where she got the courage to stand firm and keep her voice and mood leveled, she had never been one to remain calm in tense situations.

"You can't stop us!" Another of the DE yelled and shot some spell at her.

Once again Hermy concentrated and stopped the spell, though this time she sent it right back at the attacker, making him fly backwards and impact into a nearby wall.

"You're not a witch…" Greyback, the werewolf declared.

"Oh but I am." Hermy assured him evenly. "Just not the kind of witch you're used to." She turned to face Snape and Draco. "Now leave this place, leave this castle and never come back. You won't be able to kill Albus Dumbledore, I won't let you do so. So unless you want to face my real power, you'll leave now."

The second DE seemed enraged at her words and the tone in which she said them and threw himself into an attack immediately.

Hermy simply concentrated once more and sent him flying against another wall.

"Anyone else?" She asked.

She still managed to keep her steady voice, yet she knew she wouldn't last for very long, it had been just a miracle in itself that she had ever managed to use her powers while being in her astral-form, but still she couldn't hold it up for long.

But apparently what she had done so far was enough to make the other three doubt, for they immediately turned around and left the room in a hurry, the boy at the front.

'I can't believe Voldemort would ever stoop that low to use a child…' Hermy thought sadly to herself. 'And no doubt he made use of his dirty threats too…'

"Lady…" A weak voice called her.

Right then she returned to her senses. Dumbledore was still weak for some reason and they couldn't risk another attack.

She immediately concentrated once more and saw as the invisibility cloak come off Harvey and he got back his free movement. She gave him back his wand as well.

"I trust you'll be able to stand guard for a little while." Hermione told him. "I'll get someone to help you and the Headmaster. Be right back."

And before any of the two men there could make any comment she vanished.

.---.

Hermione took a deep breath and let out a moan of pain as she straightened up from the floor.

"You alright?" Harry asked right next to her.

"Hurting here and there, but I suppose that was to be expected…" Hermy replied.

Harry didn't wait for anything else and healed her right away.

"Thanks." Hermy told her. "Seems things went just fine down here."

"Not completely." Harry told her. "Henry's trying to solve some loose ends, and we still can't find Mel. But other than that things are just fine. Did you manage to stop them?"

"Ah, that's right!" Hermy almost hit herself. "That's the bad thing for changing from the astral form to the real form so suddenly; things get mixed up in my brain. Anyway, they need your help up there. I managed to stop the DE from killing the Headmaster, which was their main goal, but he's still really weak for some reason I know not, and your brother is up there too."

"Harvey?!" It was a good thing no one was near, or they could have revealed themselves right then and there.

"Yes. Worry not, he's fine. A bit shaken, but that's as far as it goes. Even under the danger of being murdered, Dumbledore still did everything he could to assure his safety."

"That's good to know. Can you stand?"

"Yes. Come on."

With that, and without anyone seeing them at the moment they both disappeared from that place and reappeared just a second later in the Tower.

"Who…who are you?" Harvey asked, his wand pointed right at them.

"Don't worry, I'm back to help you." Hermy assured him. "I told you I would bring someone to help as well."

With their hoods still up and their masks in place no one could identify them as Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, and that was just fine with them.

Harry immediately used his powers to heal Professor Dumbledore as much as he could, which wasn't completely, but at least enough to ensure his wellbeing. Then he did the same with the wounds his brother had gotten.

"Who are you?" Dumbledore finally had the strength to speak. "Why are you helping us?"

"About who we are…we must say we're just friends." Harry replied.

"And about why we're helping…" Hermy took a moment in thinking about a good answer. "Lets just say we have taken it upon ourselves to protect the innocent."

They nodded at each other, knowing that's what everyone who knew them would have said.

"Now if you'll excuse us we must leave." Harry said. "There are people who don't yet know we were here tonight, and it would be better if they didn't find out."

Both Dumbledore and Harvey knew that was an exhortation for them to keep their presence a secret, at least for the moment being.

Harry extended his equally gloved hand to Hermione, who took it without hesitancy. They still had to get to Henry and find Mel. Something told them the night wasn't over yet…

.---.

"Draco, wait!" The female voice called over and over again. "Wait!"

"Stop following me!" Draco finally came to a halt in his mad run to turn and yell at the girl.

The one standing before him was, surprisingly, none other than Melinda Halliwell.

"You've got to stop following me." He complained to her.

"No, not until you accept that what you're doing is wrong!" Mel replied stubbornly.

"Fine, I admit it. Betraying everyone here in Hogwarts, allying with Voldemort and having just tried to kill Dumbledore was wrong. Happy?" Draco said sarcastically. "That doesn't mean I can step back now."

"But you can!" Mel insisted. "You haven't yet killed anyone, I'm sure of that. That means your soul isn't yet tainted, that means not all is lost yet."

"How can you be so sure I didn't kill the old man?" Draco asked raising a brow, truly curious.

"Because if you had you wouldn't be still standing here with me." Mel replied sincerely. "If you had really killed Dumbledore you wouldn't give a damn of what I said and would have killed me too the moment I began pursuing you."

"I could still do it…"

"But you won't. You won't because it's not in you. You're not really a murderer Draco. Even if that's what the Dark Lord, and even your father wants you to be, you aren't. You aren't evil. Not really."

"When are you going to understand that it doesn't really matter?! They'll kill my mother if I even try to ignore a single order. I won't let that happen."

"You don't have to. You remember what you said when you saw me training, late at night, some months ago. You said you knew I was special, different from most, yet you haven't told that to the Dark Lord."

"That's because I didn't want him to…"

"To hurt me; or even to send you to get me, I know. You protected my secret, maybe not even you understand completely the reason yet, but still I can't let it pass…"

Right then they heard voices, DE were approaching.

Draco reacted fast, faster than even he had believed himself capable of, he took Mel by the arm and pushed her behind a nearby tree, going after her, using his black cloak to cover the both of them from prying eyes.

Moments later Professor Snape and Greyback passed, unscratched as Hermy hadn't had the strength to pursue them and preferred to make sure those in the castle were ok.

Slowly Draco helped Mel to straighten up, she smiles softly at him.

"You see?" She asked.

He knew what she meant. He'd helped her, even being in the situation he was currently in, his instincts had made him save her, had made him think of her safety above his own; and for some reason he didn't believe that to be a bad thing, not really.

"It isn't too late yet." Mel insisted to him, she extended her hand. "Just take my hand and I promise you I'll do everything and anything that is needed to secure your safety."

"Not mine, my mother's." Draco replied. "It's my mother I'm worried about."

"Very well." Mel nodded. "I'll make sure she's safe, but you'll have to come with me, to come back to the castle, to everyone.

"You're conscious that's suicide?" Draco asked raising a brow again. "It's likely they'll kill me the moment I step inside."

"No they won't." Mel insisted. "I told you, you're under my protection, nothing will happen to you as long as I'm here."

"And when you're not?" Draco asked with a hint of humor.

"We'll figure out something." Mel's smile increased. "So?"

Draco took her hand…and his destiny was sealed.

* * *

The Sixth Year is here! I don't know if you people will agree with me, but ever since I read that book I felt Dumbledore shouldn't have died. I've read what several people have written on why his death was needed, but will all due respect, I don't like it. 

I hope you'll like the chapter. Sixth year isn't over yet, in the next you'll see the consequences of what took place this night; and you'll find out the first clue to the center of this whole mess.

Don't forget to leave reviews! Lots of reviews! Remember that the sooner you update, and the more reviews I receive, the sooner you'll get the next chapter in your hands…


	7. Scars and Spells

**Chapter 6. Scars and Spells **

Before Melinda and Draco could return inside the castle their path was blocked by three certain figures cloaked in white. Draco's reaction was instantaneous, he pulled out his wand and stepped before Mel in a defensive pose.

However, the cloaked figures didn't attack, in fact they did something very different.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Melinda Prudence Halliwell?" One of the cloaked individuals, a male, asked, he sounded annoyed.

"Exactly what I was supposed to do." Mel replied calmly. "Help him."

"You mean help a murderer?" The same man asked. "I thought you knew better than that."

"He's not a murderer and you have no right to judge him, none of us do." Mel stated coldly. "Now you either stand out of my way or I'll have to move you."

"Wha…" The male seemed really shocked at her words.

"Calm down everyone." Another of the cloaked figures, this a woman said. "We're both on the same side, I think; there's no reason to fight amongst ourselves."

"Wha…" The first male again got annoyed. "You mean you support her decision?!"

"I mean I trust her judgment." The woman remained calm. "I know Mel, and she's neither immature nor insane. If she trusts Malfoy there must be a reason. I do believe we can at least wait until we know what that reason is."

"I can't believe this." The man hissed. "Hello? Does anyone else notices 'History-repeating-itself' in all this?"

"Come on." The woman seemed to be loosing her patience. "That's ridiculous."

"That's right." Mel stepped in again, resolution noticeable in her face. "I'm not Aunt Phoebe and Draco is certainly not Belthazor…"

"I seem to remember reading that most of the time he looked like a common human…" The man was very stubborn.

"Still!" Mel cried out. "Draco is not a demon!"

The term certainly surprised Draco, but before he could say anything at all the last cloaked person, a man who had remained silent until then, decided to speak.

"Stop it." The man called in an authoritative tone that certainly shut them all. "We shouldn't be having this kind of conversation out here. Anyone could walk out, see us, and blow our covers. We somehow managed to go through the battle without being discovered, we can't ruin it now."

They all nodded.

"Now." The man turned to Draco. "I want to know Draco Malfoy, if you're fully conscious of what being helped by one of us entails…"

'One of us…' The phrase repeated in Draco's face.

"Yes, Melinda is one of us." The man repeated. "By accepting her help, by getting related to her, you're getting related to all of us. It certainly might be helpful for you considering the situation you currently are in; yet it won't be easy. I can tell you our lives are certainly a lot more complicated that what's going on here. If you accept to receive our help, I'm afraid our problems will be included in the package. Are you sure you can handle that?"

"I'll figure out a way." Draco replied sincerely. "Anyway, it's too late now for me to go back with the DE and I doubt being with you can be any worse than that."

"You dare compare us…" The other cloaked man began.

"Calm down Henry…" The woman began.

"Henry?" Draco asked, not able to hide his shock. "As in Henry Mitchel?"

The cloaked man growled.

"Calm down." The woman ordered. "He was bound to find out sooner or later. And the sooner the better, we've been in the open for too long."

"Hermy is right." The calm man nodded.

"Hermy is always right." Mel added as-a-matter-of-fact.

"True enough." The other man nodded.

"Ok so, costumes off everyone so we can begin with our little charade." The calmed man said as he ditched his own.

"Charade?" Draco asked.

"Yes." Hermy nodded as she did the same. "We need to give a logical answer as to why we're out here, what we've done the last hours and why you're here. And the truth really doesn't fit in there, believe me."

"Well, let's get going." The one who seemed like the leader, the calm one, declared.

It was until then that Draco took a good luck at him and he couldn't keep in the shocked gasp. It was…

"Harry Potter?" Draco said.

"Surprised?" Harry asked with a small smile. "I should have placed a bet on that one. I'm sure you might have expected anyone, even my brother, to come from beyond that cloak; anyone but me."

Draco nodded.

"That's the good thing of being discreet on your doings." Hermy said confidently. "No one knows really what to expect from you."

Draco saw her then, Hermione Granger, he couldn't have said he wasn't expecting that one, especially after seeing who the others were. He was under the distinct impression that he had just gotten in the biggest mess of his whole life, and couldn't help but think it was going to be really interesting and exciting.

.---.

It was really a bit difficult to explain to the Headmaster and all the Professors what the quartet was doing outside the castle at such hours, even more so when they returned inside followed by Draco Malfoy. Two or three of the students that had been helping Harvey's friends actually tried to attack the Slytherin boy but Melinda quickly blocked their path and left clear that she wouldn't let them hurt his friend; which left everyone even more confused and not too trusting of the girl.

Finally they all had a talk with Professor Dumbledore. Harry explained that he sometimes had insomnia (which wasn't exactly a lie), Hermione had been keeping him company that night, until they saw the Dark Mark (which wasn't completely impossible with the location of each tower in the castle). When seeing the mark Harry had feared for his brother, Hermy had gotten their other friends to help look for Harvey, because they hadn't found him in the Gryffindor Tower, and ended up in the middle of the battle that had taken place of the invading DE vs. students, professors and aurors.

Melinda then explained that she had gone after Draco when seeing him pass, the two had been frequenting each other recently, when finding they had so much in common (like their talent at Potions for example). Mel had suspected something was wrong with Draco but hadn't known what exactly (until that night).

After some more questions Dumbledore had accepted what the teens told him (which doesn't necessarily means he fully believed them). He had also fulfilled what he had offered Draco before and managed to get his mother out of the Malfoy Manor and to a safe location before any DE found her and used her to get to Draco. However, when he was about to offer the same to Draco himself something surprised him. It was a letter addressed to him. In it he could read that Draco would pass the summer in a 'safe place', where he would be helped in overcoming anything the DE might have told him, he would be back in Hogwarts in time for the next term. Dumbledore had really not way of replying to the writer, or even knowing of the legitimacy of the letter, but he for some reason trusted it, especially when seeing the signature: 'Truly yours, A Friend.' it said.

Draco agreed with what was written in the letter, knowing that, somehow, the four teenagers standing next to him were related to it.

.---.

However, that wasn't the end of it, because right as the quarter-now-turned-quintet left the office they could hear a great commotion in the medic-wing. Ever so slowly they approached the place and peeked in to see what was going on.

"That's Bill Weasley…" Hermione informed the others.

"My god…what happened to him?" Melinda asked worriedly.

"The werewolf bit him." Henry told them. "And even if it wasn't during the full-moon, there are bound to be some consequences with such a wound."

"Isn't there something you can do about it?" Draco asked.

It was a big surprise, though none of them said a thing about it, to see Draco Malfoy actually worrying about others was certainly a change. Even if it was unlikely he would ever admit having been worried at all.

"Maybe…" Henry began.

"I'll do it." Harry informed them.

"Are you sure?" Hermy asked him with a tinge of worry. "I think you're the one who has done the most from all of us this night."

"I don't think that." Harry refused modestly. "You and Henry did a lot, and Mel too. And we have to be rational. We can't afford being discovered right now, not when we were lucky enough to go through the battle mostly unnoticed. And from all of us I'm the only who can manage to get in there, heal that man and back out without them noticing me."

"I could help." Mel declared immediately. "I know you feel you should do this on your own Harry, I know how serious you take that anyone is injured because of the Dark Lord, but if I too have means to help that man, I'm not going to stop."

"Just be careful, both of you." Hermy told them.

Both Melinda and Harry nodded.

Ever so slowly Mel extended her hands and waved them, making everything and everyone in the hospital-wing 'freeze'. Then she and Harry stepped inside and walked to the injured man silently and calmly. They knew they didn't have much time, they would have to be quick.

"What just happened?" Draco asked to the ones who had stayed behind.

"It's one of Melinda's powers." Henry explained. "It's call temporal stasis. In simple words we can say she just 'froze' the room."

"Amazing…" Draco admitted.

Hermy and Henry just turned to look at each other. It was quite curious actually, to see Draco acting in such a different way than before. Anyone would believe he was an entire different Malfoy, and maybe he was…maybe in a sense he was finally letting his real self surface.

Harry and Mel worked fast and sure, healing Bill's wounds to the best of their capability, yet without overexerting themselves too much. In the end they managed to heal him almost fully, though some scars were due to remain there.

"You did it the best you could." Hermy assured the both of them. "At least now we know he won't have to suffer any kind of consequences from that werewolf. We certainly don't need anyone else to suffer the way Mr. Lupin does…"

Draco didn't comment on that, he knew he was one of those who hadn't treated their former DADA Professor very well.

"Besides, scars aren't always that bad." Henry replied.

"Yeah, sometimes they serve to 'mark' you…" Harry commented bitterly.

Draco gasped at hearing that, quickly relating it to the so-called prophecy the media had been talking about since the past summer.

"Just don't say anything…" Mel stopped him from talking. "He really doesn't like talking about it. Though, if you need reassurance; yes, he means what you're thinking."

Draco just nodded, maybe he would be able to understand more some other time.

"And no." Henry said seriously. "I meant they sometimes serve to remind yourself and those around you that you'll always fight for what you believe in, no matter the dangers, no matter the possible consequences…you're a true fighter…"

A true fighter…yes, that's what Bill Weasley was, that's what many of those involved in the previous wars were…what those who would be involved in the upcoming war would be.

Fighters…that's exactly what they were…

.---.

The end of the school-year finally arrived and the train ride was the last chance the group had to be all together. They had taken a compartment near the end of the train and practically sealed it with magic, so they wouldn't be spied or overheard.

"Well, they seemed to buy the story, didn't they?" Melinda asked.

"Not Dumbledore." Harry denied. "I have a feeling he knows there's something going on, it may even be possible that he has always known it, but never paid it enough attention. He will now. He, and I'm sure some others as well, will be on the look out from now on, watching our every movement. They'll be waiting until we commit a mistake, until we reveal ourselves, they probably feel they need to know what's going on."

"It's my fault…" Draco began.

"Not really." Harry shook his head again. "We knew this was due to happen sooner or later. Ever since Hermy and I accepted the invitations to this school, and Henry and Mel decided to accompany us, we knew there was a good chance we wouldn't be able to remain undercover forever; sooner or later someone was due to find out the truth about us."

"Sooner or later the wizarding-world, maybe even the whole world, will know exactly who we are." Hermy added.

"But wouldn't that be dangerous?" Mel asked unsure. "I mean, just remember what mom and the rest told us of the times others found who they were. Even if time always changed so they would all forget it, so those things never happened; I'm sure you still remember what they told us happened one of those times…"

"Yes." Henry nodded. "Aunt Piper was killed, Aunt Phoebe was trapped in the Underworld and Aunt Prue was about to be shot by FBI Agents because they thought she was dangerous."

"And still, even when time was changed, one of them still died…" Hermy added.

That was true, and they all knew it, it had been then that Prue had been killed. The Charmed Ones hadn't been able to turn time backwards a second time, so there had been no way of bringing her back to life. But on the other hand, that had been also the time when Paige had entered their lives…

"So, what now?" Draco asked.

"Well, as soon as we get to King's Cross Harry will go to his parents, like he always does." Henry explained. "Then you'll come with us to a nearby café, from where I'll orb all of us to the Halliwell Manor."

"Orb? Halliwell Manor?" Draco hadn't yet fully understood everything about them.

"To orb is sort of like teleporting, or like what some call Apparating." Henry put it simply. "Except those of us who can do it are rather…special…to put it in easy terms; we also don't need to pass an exam to be allowed to do it, because this isn't something we learned to do, we were born with this ability."

"And about the Halliwell Manor." Mel added. "That's my family's home, in San Francisco."

That was enough to leave Draco speechless.

.---.

When the Express finally arrived to King's Cross Harry had to say good bye to his friends.

"Hopefully I'll be able to visit you in San Francisco." Harry said with some hope. "Though just considering what just happened in Hogwarts, I don't know what attitude my parents will be taking. They can be rather unpredictable at times."

"We understand Harry." Mel assured him. "And I know mom and the others do too. In any case, we'll be seeing you in Diagon Alley, the week before term begins, right?"

"Right." Harry nodded.

They were about to leave already when Hermione went and hugged him tightly.

"I'll be visiting you…" she whispered in his ear.

And without any explanation whatsoever she gave Harry a peck on the cheek, smiled at him and ran after the others.

Harry just stood there, on a daze, almost forgetting he was suppose to be searching for his twin brother and parents. And it was that suddenly the summer didn't seem that dreadful…

.---.

Not even a week had passed since the summer break began when Harry was violently awoken by a lot of rattle in the room next to his. For the sounds he could only suppose that someone was trying to be quite about something, and failing miserably. It was until a couple of seconds later that Harry's mind registered to whom the bedroom next to his belonged.

"Harvey!" He cried out and ran out his room at full speed.

Lily and James had been called to an important late-meeting of the Order of the Phoenix that very night, and as Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were also members of that Order, Harry and Harvey had stayed at home alone. There were supposed to be a lot of spells and incantations protecting their house there, at Godric's Hollow, but no one could be sure enough.

When Harry finally entered the other room he could see his brother quite flustered, before him was his trunk; and it looked like he had just thrown a lot of things inside it. Maybe that had been the noise Harry had heard.

"What's happening Harvey?" Harry asked, between confused and worried for his brother.

"I have to leave." Harvey replied simply.

"What?!" Now Harry was definitely worried. "To go where? And why exactly?"

"I don't know where." Harvey answered honestly. "But I gotta go. For your own safety, and mom's and dad's."

"What about your safety?"

"That doesn't really matter right now. Things are just so wrong. With everyone believing all that st about me being the boy-who-lived and the 'Chosen One'; it's all just wrong. They don't see it's because of all that that Voldemort is after me, after my whole family! And then they keep praising all my survivals, all the times I've supposedly fought Voldemort and won. They have no idea what they're talking about." He sighed. "Harry…how can anyone praise for something I didn't really do?"

"Are you sure of that?"

"How can I not? They talk to me about great fights, magic duels; yet I can't remember a thing. And the one time I've had to fight Voldemort, in the Department of Mysteries, I was in panic. Really, if Professor Dumbledore hadn't arrived then I would be dead!"

Harry was conscious that after he had jumped through the veil, after Hermy, his brother had awoken and been forced to fight the DE and even Voldemort to survive.

"But then if you didn't fight those battles, who did?" Harry asked innocently.

"I don't know." Harvey replied, his distress quite obvious. "Maybe some clone of mine, or someone who took my appearance, or maybe even you! We're practically identical twins, no one would notice the difference unless they knew us pretty well."

"What makes you think I would fight the Dark Lord?" Harry asked again.

"I'm not sure." Harvey suddenly seemed to stop and think hard about something. "Now that I think about it, it's so strange. It seems almost as if some times you just didn't exist. Everybody underestimates you, in Hogwarts you're like a shadow, along with your friends from SF. And, I know it will sound harsh, it's almost as if you some times didn't exist at all…"

"I know…" Harry sighed melancholically.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, brother. I don't know why it happens…It's almost as if something happened to everyone the moment you're away…as if everyone just forgot you even exist if you're not in the same room as them…I don't know what causes that…"

Harry just sighed, he didn't know either. But at least he wasn't the only one who felt like some times others jut forgot he existed at all.

"Still, Harvey." Harry returned to the previous topic. "You can't just leave. You would just be putting yourself in more danger. What if that's what Vo…the Dark-Lord wants? For you to be unprotected, vulnerable? As long as you stay here we can help protect you. I know mom and dad would never let anything happen to you, and I wouldn't either."

"Thanks brother…" Harvey nodded in thanks.

.---.

Even if for him it was past midnight, Harry knew that in SF it was only late-afternoon. That's why it didn't really surprise him when Hermy, in her astral-form, was waiting for him in his room as he arrived. He just greeted her and then explained her what had happened with his brother and the conversation they had had.

"So you mean that they may not be ignoring you on purpose, but they actually don't notice?" Hermy was quite shocked at that.

"Apparently that's how it is." Harry nodded. "I know it sounds strange, but what if it's true? Maybe I'm just hoping for too much but…"

"No Harry, it's alright." Hermy assured him. "I too thought it was just too strange. What we need to know now is: what's causing this? It's not normal, but it obviously must be magical so that must mean…some very high leveled incantation."

"Is such a thing even possible?" Harry asked.

"In theory…yes." Hermy said slowly. "Though it would require someone with a very high level of power…someone maybe like…"

"Voldemort?" Harry offered.

"No…" Hermy seemed even afraid to add the following. "Someone like…us…"

* * *

Cliffhanger!! And it'll take a while to solve this one. Though you may place your bets now, who do you think has the power to do that to Harry's family? 

As you've seen the Potter's aren't really bad, and everything has a reason in this story (I just can't take the idea of them being cruel to a son of theirs, considering how in the original version they both died for him…).

And Draco is now one of the good guys! The way he changed sides may not seem too logical to some, but here I'm considering that he wasn't really going to Voldemort for his own free will, so when he was given a way out, he took it. Like any wise one would.

Now people, time to get serious here. After much thinking I decided to update even when I received one less review than on previous occasions, but this shall be the only time. If the number of reviews continuous growing smaller, the time I take to update will become longer. I hope that motivates everyone to leave review!

_Next Chapter:_ Seventh year is coming! First of all the summer: some of you may freak out when you the 'real' Draco (according to me of course). You'll get a glimpse of what DE are capable of doing to those who betray them, the Charmed-children will have their second big fight against the minions of the Dark Lord and…of course a new DADA professor! (you may make your bets on who that one is as well).


	8. An Unexpected Professor

**Chapter 7. An Unexpected Professor**

The first month of the summer vacations passed rather fast for Harry. After that little talk with his brother Harvey had forgotten that insane idea of his, of running away. Neither their parents nor their 'uncles' knew what their 'dear boy' had thought about doing, and Harry thought it may be better that way.

After the twins birthday Lily informed Harry that once again they would be taking Harvey to a different and 'secure' location; which meant he would be off to pass the rest of his summer with Paige and the others in SF. Harry didn't complain or even comment about that, he was already used to it all. He also thought it could help, that way Hermione wouldn't tire that much projecting across the ocean to talk to him.

Harry was quite surprised, to say the least, when he arrived to the Halliwell Manor and saw how much Draco had changed in just a month.

Dressed in simple muggle clothing, he had become a quiet and polite young man. He would train in the mornings with Wyatt and Chris, who were teaching him basic defense, just like they had been teaching Harry for a little over eleven years already.

It was really incredible when Harry thought about it. How he had first arrived to the Halliwell Manor when being six, his godmother had gotten him out of his own home with the excuse that he would be studying in a very important school there in SF, and his parents hadn't seen any problem whatsoever in Harry being away most of the year from then on. Five years later he'd been accepted in to Hogwarts, along with Hermy, from then on he had passed the school year in London, half of his summer with his parents, and the other half with his godmother and 'unofficial family'. He never left Hogwarts for Easter and in the Winter Break it very much depended on what was going on.

But going back to Draco. Harry heard Billie had somehow pulled him to P3 one of the first nights he was in town, from then on he helped her regularly in the club, he seemed to like the place, even if it was just 'muggle'. Also he had shown a great admiration to Piper, being she the best at Potions, and had insisted on having her teach him as much as possible.

Phoebe had agreed with the others that Melinda had done a good job in getting the young man out of evil's clutches. He had a great talent and could do a great good, he just needed to have the right influences.

The 'Fates' hadn't said a thing about Malfoy, which no one knew if it was a good or a bad thing. Henry's sisters weren't really into magic so it depended on him and Piper's kids.

Mel had no problem demonstrating that she actually was friends with Draco, and with some time he opened up to the rest of them. Befriending them all (after having apologized for all the things he had previously done wrong).

There was also the fact that Draco had no worries, at least for the moment being. He received letters from his mother every week, which reassured him she was ok. And as the letters arrived with some help of the Charmed Ones they could know no one would be able to trace them, either to Mrs. Narcissa or her son.

When seeing all that, Harry couldn't help but wonder exactly what had made Draco Malfoy be the way he had been all those years. Wonder what would have happened if Melinda had never befriended him, never got to see what was beyond the façade the Slytherin always used, never helped him come out.

Was Draco's past attitude only because of Voldemort? If so, how much evil was that 'man' actually spreading out that they didn't yet know of? And how could they stop it?

.---.

The second month of summer brought an event Harry would have never believed possible: Draco became another of his best friends.

Both teenagers in fact passed a lot of time training their martial arts against each other when Wyatt and Chris weren't around to help them. And it was that Wyatt had moved out to his own apartment, as he was now studying college, and still fighting demons in his free times. Chris, even when he still slept in the Halliwell manor, passed a lot of his free time with his girlfriend: Bianca.

Draco was taking Wyatt's bed in the manor, and Harry found it quite interesting to be his roommate. Once they had both left their differences behind they would pass hours talking about one thing or another. They had many things to say, belonging to important wizard families, yet being very different from one another.

There was also the fact that when Henry and Hermy joined them they would help each other do the homework, sometimes they all took turns to help Mel as well; though the one who passed the most time with her was still Draco, just like Harry with Hermy.

As Henry had just being taken as apprentice by Paige to become an official white-lighter, he didn't seem to notice how well the others got along.

.---.

The summer break finished sooner that some would have liked. Harry, Hermy, Henry, Mel and Draco all orbed back to London and rented two rooms in the Leaky Cauldron, just for the night. This time they had arrived there to buy what was needed just the day before taking the Hogwarts Express, everyone in the Halliwell manor, seemed to believe it was safer that way. That way they just had to be on their own for one day.

However, they hadn't expected their one day in Diagon Alley to be so eventful.

They had already bought everything they would need and stopped to buy ice-cream cones for all of them.

Some of them had wondered how would Draco take not being the wealthy boy he had used to being, he had always been. Yet it hadn't been that bad. Billie and Piper had paid Draco for helping in the club, and that along with some money he had had in his power before leaving everything behind had been enough so he could get his things; he had defiantly refused to let any of the other teens pay for his things. Even if he was no longer as rude as he used to be, he still kept his pride.

They were sitting there when something suddenly caught Harry's attention.

"What is it?" Hermy asked him.

"I can sense a dark presence…several in fact." Harry answered.

"Death Eaters." Henry added.

"We should get out a' here…" Mel began.

"No." Draco held her by the arm before she could leave the table. "We can't leave this people defenseless. If DE are here it's likely they'll attack, I don't think there are any aurors around, which mean yo…we are the only ones who have any chance of fighting them back."

"You're conscious that if at least one of those DE discover that you're on our side you'll be in terrible danger?" Henry asked the blonde. "Until now he may believe you dead, prisoner or in the run; if he were to find out the truth…"

"I know…and I accept it." Draco replied seriously. "If there's something I've learnt in the last months is that Lord Voldemort is a bastard that must be stopped, no matter what may need to be done. I will fight. If that means having my name added on his 'to be killed' list, then so be it. So far the one everyone says must be at the top of his list remains unscathed so maybe I will be just as lucky…" He grinned and winked as he said the last part.

Technically one could say he meant the 'boy-who-lived', Harvey Potter; though the others had already told Draco who was the one who had actually fought Voldemort all those times and survived: Harry.

They decided to split in two different groups, each would try to cover a half of Diagon Alley. The first team was formed by Harry and Hermy, the other by Henry, Mel and Draco. They had all decided to depend on the boys orbing to get to one place or another, though if things were too difficult others had already learnt how to apparate (Mel was the only one who didn't know but she had memorized a teleportation-spell, just in case).

The attack began with just second to spare for the quintet to get in their places. Hermy would deflect as many spells as possible from their targets and send them to empty spaces so no one would be hurt; Harry concentrated in creating shields for as many people as possible; Henry would summon some spells and then send them away; Mel and Draco were the ones working more together, as she would 'freeze' the energy of the spell and give time for Draco to use his own wand to get rid of them. Also Mel and Harry tried to heal most of those who were injured by the DE, while Henry used his own part of the power to undo the damage caused to the place in itself (not much but some of it).

The battle was difficult, but the teens managed to hold their ground, using their own powers as discreetly as possible.

The climax point came when one of the DE caught Mel with a low-guard, used a disarming spell on her that sent her flying against a wall and made her so dizzy she couldn't concentrate on her powers. However, before the DE had time to torture her or even kill her Draco left his own hiding place and, throwing caution to the wind, engaged himself in a one-on-one duel with the dark-cloaked man.

"You're…a Malfoy…" The DE seemed quite surprised when discovering his identity.

"So what?" Draco asked, not paying attention to him and only the duel.

"You are a traitor!" The man yelled. "Sectusempra!"

Draco moved to dodge the spell, but he still got a superficial cut in his forearm. The problem was that it was his right arm, with which he used his wand; he wasn't as fast when handling his wand with the other hand.

"You'll die traitor." The man declared enraged. "Ava…"

"No!" Mel yelled recovering right then.

She was too fast for the man, with a wave of her hands his wand exploded in his fingers, and then with a swift kick to the chest he crashed against the closest wall, falling unconscious to the ground.

"Are you alright?" Mel asked Draco worriedly.

"Just fine." Draco replied, though when he got on his feet his injured shoulder made him wince slightly.

Mel reacted immediately, bringing her hand to his wound, she healed him immediately.

"Thank you." Draco smiled at her.

How she loved to see him smile, but to really smile; it was such a rare occurrence, even with everything that had changed already.

"Come on." She told Draco. "We must get to Henry so he can get us out 'a here before the aurors or someone of the Ministry arrive and begin asking questions we can't answer."

"What about Harry and Hermione?" Draco asked, he still didn't feel comfortable calling the witch 'Hermy', like everyone else.

"They'll be fine." Mel assured him. "Harry can orb them out of this place." She turned in a certain direction. "Come on, I can sense Henry this way."

Draco just nodded and followed her.

They immediately caught up with the other white-lighter and he easily got them to a cafeteria in muggle-London; where they stayed for the remainder of the day, while aurors and other wizards from the Ministry investigated the attack in Diagon Alley.

.---.

The next day they all boarded the Hogwarts Express. The ride was calm and even a bit boring. They arrived to the castle like they always did and then got on the carriages carried by the thestrals. The 'Charmed-Children' had never liked those creatures, being able to see them ever since their first year, due to everything they had been through. After being explained exactly how they looked like, Draco decided he was happy not to be able to see them.

They arrived to Hogwarts to see that it wasn't as full as usual, which was something most had been expecting. After what had happened in the previous two years it was normal that some families didn't believe their children to be safe there.

As expected Slughorn was once again the Potions Professor, however, there's no way they could have been expected the one who became their new DADA Professor.

"I would very much like to introduce you to your new teacher." Dumbledore declared. "After much convincing she has agreed to come teach this class, though probably it will only be for this year. She's never before taught this subject, yet don't underestimate her for her ability against the Dark Arts in unquestionable. Please Welcome Professor Billie Jenkins."

Four certain teens were about to cry out right then.

Billie directed small smiles to her 'honorary nieces and nephews'. She had certainly given them a surprise.

The quartet would have approached her for some explanations but they really couldn't do it. Harry and Hermione were Head Boy and Head Girl respectively; while the other three were prefects in their own houses, along with other students like Harvey Potter, his girlfriend Ginny Weasley in Gryffindor, Luna Lovegood and another boy in Ravenclaw, and Pansy Parkinson from Slytherin.

They had to guide the first-years in their respective houses and make sure everyone respected the rules and new security measures.

.---.

The next time they saw Billie was the following day, she gave the last class.

Due to the fact that there were less students in Hogwarts, and that not all of them had signed up for all the classes, most of the classes for the sixth and seventh years now took place with all of the houses together.

Billie was smiling widely as the students walked into her class, she remained quiet until all of them had gotten seats; the quintet taking the very firsts along with the golden trio.

Billie couldn't hide her joy at seeing the five teens she had gotten to know so well, even if she had just known Draco for a couple of months.

"Good evening everyone." Billie greeted the students. "As Professor Dumbledore said in last night's feast my name is Billie Jenkins. It's true I've never taught this subject, yet this isn't the first time I stand before I class. I used to be a teacher of magic as well, back in San Francisco, in the United States."

"What subject did you teach Prof. Jenkins?" Lavender asked.

"Psychic gifts…" Billie began.

"Psychic gifts?!" Several students cried out in shock.

Only certain five remained impassive.

"Yes." Billie nodded. "I'm a psychic, a telekinetic to be precise."

And just to prove it Billie waved her hands, and immediately the books in the nearby shelves began floating, as well as some of the materials the students had already laid out in their desks. That called everyone's attention right away.

"Why would Professor Dumbledore hire a psychic to teach us DADA?" Ron asked raising a brow, apparently not at all convinced by Billie.

"Because as he said I've had experience in fighting evil-creatures." Billie explained.

"What kind of evil creatures?" Padma Patil voiced everyone's question.

"Well warlocks, harpies, zombies, demons, you name it." Billie answered as if it were nothing.

"Demons?" Seamus Finnigan asked with doubt. "You mean as in from hell?"

"Yes Mr….Finnigan, I meant demons as in those that come from hell." Billie answered. "I'm what some call a demon-huntress."

"But those are just legends?!" Pansy Parkinson called.

"I can assure you Miss Parkinson, we are no legend." Billie replied. "It's just that we're not as forthcoming as aurors, just like the demons we fight aren't as well-known as the Death Eaters and that Dark Lord of theirs."

Several of them noticed that she had mentioned the Dark Lord as if he were nothing at all, and that's how Billie thought (after fighting against the Source, the Tryad and so many others it's understandable).

"Now." Billie continued. "Professor Dumbledore called me because he, somehow, found out the experience I had, both in fighting evil and teaching new mages and demon-hunters. Which is why he thought I was the perfect candidate to help you be ready for the upcoming war."

"War?" Parvati asked, fear obvious in her eyes.

"Yes Miss Patil, war." Billie was being serious, something unusual in her. "Despite what some of you would like to believe, we must all accept the fact that we're in a time of war. You've got to be prepared to fight or risk death. My responsibility is to make sure you're ready to fight any possible enemy the moment you step out of this castle; but I'm not a nanny. I'll give you the means to learn, but you'll be the ones to decide if you want to learn or not. You're all in seventh year, and for what I'm told you're already considered as off-age in this society, meaning you'll decide what to do with your lives."

No one replied, they all knew she was right.

"Now." Billie continued. "In this class we'll be concentrating in making sure you know how to fight, both magically and physically. I know some of you may consider that things such as martial arts won't be useful for you, but they will, you need to be ready to defend yourselves with, and especially without, a wand. Understood?"

They all nodded in silence.

"Very well." Billie continued. "I have a feeling that you'll be lacking in muggle defense more than in magical. So I'll give you several warm-up exercises that you must do every day, and I mean every day. As we have our class three days 'a week one day will be for physical training, that'll be Tuesday, Thursday will be for magical training, you will be practicing dueling in this classroom, and finally Friday will be for alternative-magic."

"Alternative-magic?" Neville asked, curious.

"Yes, Mr. Longbottom." Billie nodded. "That means I'll run some tests so we'll know if you have any special 'gift'; if you do me or some of my assistants will train you, if not you'll use that day to continue your other training."

"Does anyone get a feeling that they're training us almost as if we were aurors?" A young man commented in a low tone.

"I doubt even aurors have to go through this kind of training." Another replied.

"I honestly don't know how your aurors are trained, I've never known any." Billie stepped in their conversation. "However, this is how we, demon-hunters train, this is how they want me to train you, so this is the way things will be done."

"You mentioned you would be having assistants." Another Ravenclaw reminded her. "When will we meet them?"

"Well, in fact they were supposed to be here some minutes ago…" Billie began.

Right then they heard the door banging open as two young men entered the classroom. One was twenty-one years old, and the other twenty; both easily recognized by five certain teens.

"You finally arrive." Billie scolded the two. "The class began almost ten minutes ago."

"Hey, not our fault." The youngest replied. "We didn't ask to be held back by some crazy werewolf and two cloaked men that accompanied him."

Several students gasped.

"I trust you didn't kill them." Billie said raising a brow.

"Of course not." The eldest declared. "The two men are just unconscious, while the werewolf is bound And unconscious. One of the aurors at the castle entrance went to get them."

Billie nodded. She personally would have killed the werewolf, or perhaps not. She had heard that not all werewolves were evil, and one of them was even helping the good side; it would have been terrible for them to commit a mistake.

"Well class." Billie said facing them all. "These are the assistants I told you about. Let me introduce to you Wyatt Matthew Halliwell and Christopher Perry Halliwell."

"Halliwell?" Hannah Abbott asked. "Melinda is your sister?"

"Yes." Wyatt nodded and smiled at his baby-sister.

Melinda couldn't help but groan, having her elder brothers there was certainly going to be a nightmare, they tended to be too overprotective.

"Are they psychics just like you, Professor Jenkins?" Another student asked.

"Not like me, but they do have gifts." Billie told them.

"What kind of gifts?" Padma asked.

For all answer Billie used her telekinesis to move a knife that was in a nearby shelf, across the room and right to Wyatt, who was standing in a corner.

Several gals shrieked in shock, while the men just stared wide-eyed.

Yet the knife never touched the young man, because in the last moment a sky-blue spherical shield enveloped him, making the knife bounce-off.

"Are you nuts?!" Wyatt cried out at Billie. "You just tried to kill me!"

"Not really." Billie told him. "I knew you were perfectly capable of protecting yourself. Ok, class, what you just saw is Wyatt's ability. It's quite different from mine, but just as useful." She sighed. "I want you to understand, I won't be leaving any kind of homework whatsoever in this class, your grade will depend entirely in what you achieve in class. Of course that to do better in class you'll have to study and train in your free time so…I think you understand the point. So, lets begin with the exercises."

They all nodded.

Billie, with help from Wyatt and Chris, began showing the others the needed exercises so it wouldn't be as hard when they actually began training in martial arts and other styles of fight. The quintet had no problem to follow her, as they did those exercises for warm-up every day; though for the rest of the students it was a bit hard at first.

And that, was just the beginning of the year…

* * *

Hello everybody! I'm back! I know some of you wanted Tonks as the new DADA professor but you see, I need to have Billie here, because in the following part of the story she'll become a very important character, even if she's not the main heroine, her help will be very much needed. On the other hand, I already have plans that involve our dear metamorphmagus and a certain handsome werewolf of hers. (Don't ask, you'll know what I mean in the future). 

So, I hope you liked the chapter, and I hope you'll like the way things will turn out from now on. Many things will change now with Billie, Wyatt and Chris around, and especially once they explain why exactly they went to Hogwarts (believe me, it was no coincidence).

In the next chapter we'll learn more about the differences the magical society of Europe have with the one from America; this thanks to a conversation between Billie and Dumbledore. And we'll also get to see who, besides the 'Charmed-Children' have 'special powers' (believe me, you'll get some surprises there).

So, that's all for now. Please don't forget to leave a review!


	9. Demon Hunters

**Chapter 8. Demon Hunters **

"What, in the name of all that's holy, are you doing here?" Mel asked her two elder brothers, without even trying to hide her annoyance.

Harry and Hermy couldn't help but snicker slightly at her tone. It was well known to the younger 'Charmed-Children' that Mel hated being compared to her elder brothers, which was why she had been so happy to be allowed in Hogwarts; a place where she was her own person. However, Wyatt and Chris didn't seem to notice, or maybe they just didn't care.

"Why…You offend me Mel, my dear sister." Chris said in a mocking tone. "I come all the way here and you can't even say 'welcome'."

"Welcome." Mel said in the same annoyed tone. "Now please, do us all a favor and return to San Francisco, both of you."

"We can't." Wyatt interfered, seriously.

"Why not?" Henry asked, noticing the brother's tone.

"Mom sent us…" Wyatt began, and when noticing his sister's face added immediately. "And before you go crazy, it's not that she doesn't trust you Mel, or any of you for that matter. Aunt Phoebe had a premonition."

That immediately caught everyone's attention.

"A premonition?" Mel asked concerned.

"Was it something bad?" Draco feared.

"Very much." Wyatt admitted. "The final battle is coming closer. It will be big, it will be bad, vicious, and many people will die, in both sides."

"Isn't there anything we can do to prevent the deaths?" Hermy asked terrified by the idea.

"Maybe, but it will be very risky." Wyatt told her.

"What can be more risky than fighting demons almost every day?" Henry asked.

"Fighting demons And death eaters almost every day." Wyatt replied.

"What?!" They all cried out at that.

"You can't possible mean that…" Hermy didn't dare finish the sentence.

"He means exactly that." Chris replied. "We had noticed that things were unusually quite in San Francisco, even in the summer while you trained and we patrolled. So Wyatt had the idea for us to go spy on the Underworld. And what a surprise we got when we found it empty as well. We went looking for Bianca and…well, things couldn't be worse…"

"Is she alright?" Hermy asked.

"Physically, yes, but she's scared out of her mind." Chris replied angrily, thought not at the teens. "She has gone back into hiding. For what she told us some strange men went looking for some demons to join them, those who accepted became part of their evil army, those who refused were immediately killed. She had to flee in order to survive."

"Things are worse than we had thought possible then…" Draco murmured. "Now Voldemort has a greater army."

"An army that wizards don't know how to fight…" Henry added.

"That's why I'm here." Billie stepped into the conversation right then. "Paige and I managed to convince the Elders, of letting us join forces with the wizarding-community. So we sent Albus Dumbledore a letter explaining who I was and that I could be of help, training those who were interested. The aurors refused my help, they don't even believe in demons, less of all in demons allying with Voldemort. So Dumbledore suggested that I came here and trained the students. So at least some people would be ready to fight."

"Did you or anyone else say anything about us?" Mel asked.

"No." Billie shook her head for extra emphasis. "As far as the Headmaster and everyone else are concerned Mel is indeed Wyatt's and Chris's sister, yet 'too young' to be a demon-hunter; though, it wouldn't be a surprise if she were to show some 'special abilities' in my class."

"So that's what all this is about." Hermy understood. "The abilities. After what she showed in class, and especially what she said that there's the possibility of some people having abilities, we can show one of ours publicly without looking suspicious. That's brilliant!"

"Well, thank you." Billie said. "But, even though it is a good excuse for that, that's not the only reason. It Is true that some people here may possess psychic abilities, or from some other sort. People with that kind of abilities could be a great help in this upcoming war."

"Only if they learn fast how to control them." Draco pointed out. "If not they could very well become a problem."

"That's why we have to make this class progress as fast as possible." Billie nodded. "You've got until Friday to decide which of your 'abilities' you'll show. Though I suggest you leave healing and orbing out, those are too particular of white-lighters, they could give you away."

They all nodded. Even if they would begin to reveal some things, most of the truth would remain hidden, and should for as long as possible.

.---.

Most of the classes passed in a way that was normal for all the students. Even if it was true many students were missing, it was obvious that Dumbledore and all the teachers were doing their best for things to remain the way they used to be.

However, there was one class that was entirely different, and that made all the students wish to be in it: DADA.

The second day the seventh years had that class they already knew what would be coming.

"Very well." Billie declared after greeting them. "Before I can begin teaching you I need to know how much you know thus far. And for that I'll put you in pairs and each of you will duel against the others. Nothing too rough please, I only want to see what you're capable of, and from where will my teachings begin."

They all nodded in agreement.

And so Billie began calling them in pairs. Draco went against Neville, and to the surprise of most of the students the Slytherin was calm and fair; Neville gave a good battle with a lot of spells he had learnt in the previous years and already used successfully against DE twice. But in the end Draco was the one to defeat him by getting him in a full-body bind.

As soon as Billie declared Draco to be the winner he undid his own spell and offered a hand to Neville, which surprised the others even more.

"Great duel." Draco praised the boy. "Though you may want to keep an eye to your left side, you leave yourself too open when you attack."

"Thanks…" Even Neville was shocked. "I'll have that in mind."

Most couldn't understand what had made the blonde boy change so much.

The next duel was between Henry and Ron. It was an incredible duel in which Henry kept himself back so as not to look too suspicious. But even then, when having to depend only in his wand and not his other abilities, he found himself having a difficult time. Ron was quite skillful and liked to take the offensive, unlike his friend Neville or his girlfriend Lavender, who preferred to be defensive.

After almost ten minutes straight Billie decided it was time to stop the duel and call it a draw. The abilities of those two, when limited to a wand, were very much the same.

Hermione defeated Lavender in their own duel fairly quickly; though some of the students watching were quite surprised when seeing her fight, as she seemed to be acting defensively and offensively at the same time. It was a very particular way of fighting, either with a wand, weapon, martial arts or with other kind of magic that very few could handle.

The last duel of that day's class, and the one that surprised them all the most was the Potter vs. Potter; Harvey against Harry. The two boys remained silent as they brought out their wands and went through the usual steps for an official duel. Even if it was obvious that in a real fight their enemy would never be so formal, they still did it that way in class.

The exchange of spells began just an instant later. One after another, flashes of light flew in both directions, while the teens managed to dodge or deflect them.

The classmates could almost immediately notice the difference in the way the twins fought. Even if both knew a lot of spells, Harvey depended completely in his wand, both to fight and to defend; while Harry used his wand to fire the spells, but most of the ones his brother shot him, he would dodge them using his agility and good reflexes he had learnt in his time in SF. That way he saved magic-energy to fight back.

Even when their tactics were slightly different, it seemed that, being twins, those two always knew what the other would do; making it extremely hard to predict who of them would win, if any would at all.

Eventually both Harry and Harvey fired the same spell, at the same time, it was a red-orange flash of light most couldn't identify (and as they all used nonverbal spells already they didn't know what they had done). The spells didn't really reach their marks, but instead collided one against the other, provoking a small explosion tat sent both duelists backwards.

Harry's reflexes were faster than his own mind, making him arch his body backwards as he flew back, managing a back flip, after which he landed on the floor, near the limits of the classroom, still slightly roughly, with a knee on the ground.

Harvey, on the other hand, didn't have that kind of reflexes. Neville and Ron tried to help him, though and because of that all three of them ended in a heap in the floor. The only positive thing could be that they managed to soften Harvey's fall, preventing him from being seriously injured (even if they all ended slightly bruised, it wasn't that bad).

"Well…" Billie said, not bothering to hide her surprise. "That was quite an interesting duel. I do believe both of Mr. Potters have a lot of knowledge they could share with the rest of the classmates. As do several more duelists we've seen in this class. But we'll leave that for next week. Now I want you to remember that in the next class we'll see which of you possess any special talent and how you could obtain good advantage of it." She smiled. "That's all for tonight, class dismissed."

It was definitely a good thing that Billie's class was the last the days they had it. Because if that day was any indication at all, they could all expect a lot of tiring classes, and it was a good thing that afterwards they only had to think about getting some dinner and sleeping.

.---.

The following day everything the seventh years would talk about was the duels there had been in DADA class, especially the Potter's duel. Seeing what those two had been able to do was more than enough to leave many people thinking on what they each could achieve; which had been exactly what Billie had been intending. The students needed to know they were capable of many things, they needed to have the desire of doing those things, because only then would they be capable of them. She had learnt that firsthand with all the training she'd gone through after discovering her own powers all those years ago.

After hearing several of the things the students were saying Dumbledore decided to call Billie for a small chat.

"You wanted to talk to me Headmaster?" Billie asked him casually.

"I've heard quite a few of the seventh year students talking about the way your class went last night Miss Jenkins…" Dumbledore began.

"Billie, please." Billie interrupted him softly.

"Miss Billie." Dumbledore nodded. "I heard about several of the duels that took place in the classroom, especially the one between the Potter brothers."

"I assure you Prof. Dumbledore that all the students were perfectly safe, all the time." Billie assured him. "Wyatt and I had the means to break off a duel the moment we believed it to be dangerous; even without Chris there last night, I would never endanger those children."

"I know, I'm not questioning your security measures. I'm more intrigued by the arrangement between the duelists; especially the duel between Mr. Harvey Potter and Mr. Harry Potter."

"Ah, that. To be completely honest it was pure luck that they ended going against each other. As I had never before taught the students of this school I had no way of knowing what to expect from them, so I couldn't exactly pair them up according to their abilities."

"That's true. But, am I correct in assuming that you did know what to expect from Mr. Harry Potter, and maybe even his two friends?"

"You're right in assuming that Professor." Billie knew there was no point in denying that. "I have been friends with the Halliwell family for years, meaning Henry's and Mel's mothers, as well as Harry's and Hermione's godmothers. "

"So I can also guess they will know quite a bit about the topics you intend to teach your class, like martial arts and weaponry."

"Again you're right. The children's mothers are retired demon huntresses, as such they trained their kids in the same ways since they were little, so they could continue with the tradition."

"But, children as demon hunters?" Now Dumbledore seemed to be slightly scandalized. "Why would anyone put them through something like that?"

"Why not?" Billie hadn't raised her voice, not even a bit, yet her tone was stern, showing she believed in every word that she spoke. "Hunting demons is something someone's gotta do. Why not them? It's true it's dangerous, a lot. I myself have been in the verge of death more than once, and I've known of people that have died just for being related with these matters, even without being demon hunters themselves. Like my parents…" Billie sighed sadly but pushed it aside. "I know you may believe it is outrageous, but don't be wrong Professor. We would never push the children into becoming something they don't want to be, we train them to defend themselves, and then it's up to them if they continue on the same path or take one completely different. Being demon hunters is a millenarian tradition, one that's been passed from one generation to another, along with the magical powers and the knowledge. You must understand that even if the kids decide not to be demon hunters, they still need to know how to defend themselves, because not being one of us doesn't mean that the demons, or any other foul creatures won't attack and even kill them if they get in its path."

Dumbledore nodded, he knew Billie was right, it was just that he had never expected to hear something like that. To know that several of the students in his school had been trained for years to become something that most in the world believed to be nothing but legends. It just seemed to be too much.

"I understand this may be difficult for you Headmaster." Billie said sympathetically to the old man. "Our ways are significantly different from yours. But you must understand this is the way we live, the way we survive. We can't change that. Most of you wizards are pacifiers, and that's understandable; we, on the other hand, prefer to stand out ground and fight, because that's the way we've learnt to act. We know that even just one step in false could bring our doom. Ours and of all the world's."

"How can that be possible?" Dumbledore suddenly asked her. "How can only a few hold the destiny of everyone."

"That's a good question. I think it's because that's the way our ancestors chose it to be." Billie replied after thinking for a moment. "We didn't make that choice, but we follow what our parents, grandparents and other mentors taught us." She sighed again. "Maybe that's why our 'worlds' are so apart from one another. We have a very different view of things, both good and bad, and of life in itself. I'm not asking you to change the way you do things, because I won't change the way I do mine either. We're both grownups who chose the path we would take in life long ago; and one day, the moment will come for the children we're teaching to make the same decision. We can't decide for them, we can only teach them everything we know and trust they'll make the best choice, not for us, but for themselves."

Dumbledore didn't say anything else. He would have never expected to meet a woman such as Billie. All the knowledge she held, and it was obvious she couldn't be any older than forty, maybe even a few years younger.

There was only one thing the Headmaster still wondered: those teens Billie knew, those that had grown and trained in the ways she had told him about. What decision would they make? Or had they made it already?

Billie had a very good idea of what may be in the Headmaster's mind, even without being a mind-reader, but she said nothing about it. She was pretty conscious that all four of the teens had made their decisions already, had made them quite some years ago in fact. And even if there was still the chance that one day they may decide to change the path they were traveling through, Billie really doubted they would. They knew the dangers there were in being demon hunters, had known them ever since they were born; and yet for that very same reason they were used to it. They were used to the fights, to the dangers, and to the satisfaction of knowing they helped making the world a better place, even if no one knew that.

.---.

The next DADA class came fast enough. All the seventh year students were quite anxious and excited about it. The thought of having any 'special ability' made them be ready to do their best that night.

"Very well." Billie declared after seeing they were all there. "I know most of you are quite excited about this class, yet I must leave some things clear first. One: not all of you may have any gift at all, and I know it will be frustrating for those of you that don't, but you must always remember that with or without additional gifts, there are many more things for you to learn. Two: those of you who do have gifts, I have to tell you it won't be easy, it won't be easy to bring out your gift at first, and specially it won't be easy for you to learn how to control it. It is true some may have the 'natural talent' with it, but most of you will have to work hard, and I mean really hard, to handle any ability you may show, and it might take you longer than a year. I just want to tell you, don't give up. It's hard, right, but it's worth it. Just do your best and I'm sure you'll all do great."

They all nodded, they knew they would be needing that kind of advice and encouraging sooner or later with the training they were about to begin.

"Very well." Billie continued. "I will be calling each of you, one by one, randomly. Once you get here before me I'll want you to concentrate deeply, leaving your mind blank of everything, of any possible distraction. Only then will your inner power surface. Don't be scared if you see or feel something strange, it's normal; and I assure you that Wyatt, Chris and I won't let anything bad happen to any of you."

They all nodded. For some reason they all seemed to trust in what she told them.

"Mitchel, Henry." Billie decided to begin with someone who already had gifts to get the other students on a positive mood.

Henry, who had already made up his mind on what gift he would reveal had no problem with standing at the front, where he closed his eyes and remained unmoving for a moment, just to keep appearances. Everyone waited, but nothing seemed to happen, with apparent frustration he kicked the table next to him, making a flower vase fall and break in hundreds of pieces. Henry gasped, dropped on his knees and extended his hands, as if intending to take the pieces of porcelain in his hands; but right then there was a soft glow and the pieces floated, reforming the flower vase under the astonished look of the students.

"Well, it seems Mr. Mitchel here has the power of regeneration." Billie said, pretending to be surprised at the sight. "For those of you who don't know what that means I'll tell you that he has the ability to repair broken things to the point were it seems like they were never broken. Some of you may not believe this gift to be of much use, yet with some practice Mr. Mitchel shall be able to reform things, even when a part has been turned to ashes, or vanished; though this, of course, doesn't work with living being, only with inanimate things."

Those who knew Henry enough, knew he could do that, yet it would bee too suspicious if he had been able to perform an advanced regeneration at his 'first try'.

More students came after Henry, and as expected many got frustrated when they didn't show any special ability at all. That was why every several non-gifted teens Billie called one of those she knew had gifts, that way she made sure the rest of the students didn't get their hopes too low, which certainly wouldn't be good.

Hermione had decided to show her ability with the telekinesis, and in her 'first attempt', she concentrated on moving random objects, making it look like she had no control at all.

Between those who showed gifts, were some who had been expected and others who hadn't: for example Draco, who revealed abilities as a mindbreaker, meaning he could literally 'break' other's spells, as he broke the energy-flow; once he was powerful enough he might even be able to break someone's mind (the mind, not the brain). Ron showed the power of 'deflection', it was like some of mirror-shields that would send the attacks back or sideways. Lavender came out to be a true Prophetess, she just needed practice before she was able to predict the future and find other people. Neville surprised many of his classmates when it was discovered he had the ability to 'connect' with the plants, he could feel what they feel when touching them, and with some training he would be able to control their growth at will.

Yet the biggest surprise came from the Potter brothers…again. Harvey went first, he closed his eyes and concentrated, just like his classmates had done. A quill began floating before him, but it didn't stop there; he was called by Chris and when the young boy raised his hand Chris suddenly was thrown back, and then Wyatt ended trapped by the full-body-bind.

Before Billie could do anything at all to stop it Harry raised his hand at his brother, the effect was instantaneous: he collapsed as if he had just been hit by the 'Demaius' spell.

"Well, it appears that both of the Potter brothers here have just shown the most common gift between wizards: wandless magic." Billie declared with a soft smile.

Hermione smiled as well as she brought out her wand and undid all the spells.

"Very well class." Billie declared. "Congratulations to those of you who had gifts, to those of you who don't, remember this isn't over, you can still have a great potential with your wand, a weapon or in martial arts. Be prepared, because your real training is just about to begin."

And her words weren't a threat…they were a promise.

* * *

Well, some of you might think I gave the twins too simple gifts, yet they are in fact more complicated than they seem at first sight. You'll know why in the next chapter. 

Now, I believe I remember someone asked me about Henry's gift of Regeneration when I first mentioned he had it; so I decided this chapter would be perfect for the explanation to be given.

I hope you all liked the chapter, don't forget to leave a good review!

Coming next: _Halloween has come, and with it the official beginning of this huge magical war, and some people will have to decide whether they will just watch history pass or stand and fight. Two prophecies shall be revealed, and their contents will change once and for all the course of this story... _(Yeah, it's a lot, I know, but you just can't miss the following chapter!)


	10. An Eventful Halloween 1st Part

**Chapter 9. ****An Eventful Halloween (1****st**** Part) The War Begins **

"How can Harry possibly have a power we didn't know about?" Mel asked, her arms crossed over her chest.

They had all reunited in Billie's and her brother's common room, it connected the dorms of the three of them (and some empty ones) and was located behind a portrait of the Legendary Morgana le Fay, a mythical witch that was supposed to have powers a lot greater than any modern witch or wizard. The password was 'Power of Three' (it had been the boy's idea, as it was something they could all remember easily).

"That's not exactly true." Draco commented suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Mel asked turning to look at him.

"Well, I've heard you say before that Harry has the power of manipulating energy in its pure state, right?" Draco asked.

Mel nodded, not really understanding what he meant to say.

"Yes." Wyatt nodded. "It's the angel with a demon's power."

It was like a joke between them, as some people considered white-lighters as some sort of guardian-angels for witches; and then there was the fact that the power of manipulating energy was considered as a demonic one. Therefore Harry was an 'angel' with the power of a demon. It was something Wyatt and Chris always made fun of, though Harry had never liked it, there was enough evil in his life with him fighting demons and now also the Dark Lord and his minions to also have to consider a part of himself as some sort of 'evil'. Perhaps that was why he rarely every used that power of his.

"I don't think it was meant to be that way." Draco explained. "If considered it carefully, what is a spell made of? Energy. Therefore, that was always Harry's ability. The only difference is that before he didn't think about giving a form to the energy he used, now he does, he can give it the form of a spell."

The others had to admit that what Draco said made sense, a lot of it in fact. They had always known of that particular power Harry possessed and had tried to find a reason for someone like him to have it, never finding any; yet they had never really thought of looking for a wizard-reason.

And Harry definitely liked that explanation more like the other boy's jokes. That way at least he could be sure there was no more evil in his life than the one he fought (and the scar but that's beside the point, he already has his mind-shields for that).

"It seems we're really opposites now." Draco told Harry with a hint of humor. "You create the energy for the spells, and I break it."

Harry smiled at that.

.---.

Tuesday brought even more surprises in DADA class with the beginning of the teens training in martial arts, but that had been expected already.

After much thinking Billie had taken the risk to take her classes with the sixth year students to the same level he was using for the seventh years. She wasn't sure if the younger students would be able to handle something like that. However, she had positive results with the way she did things.

Several sixth years proved to have gifts as well, the most noticeable being Ginny Weasley, who seemed to be an empathic; meaning she could feel others emotions, she could also sense the good and evil will in those around her (meaning she also knew when someone was about to attack her or those nearby), and with some practice she might even be able to project her own emotions to affect others. Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw girl who was well known for saying things that made no sense at all, and was also Neville's girlfriend, surprised everyone (just like her boyfriend) when it was discovered that she had potential as an illusionist; all the things she could imagine, she could project them, making others see them, Billie had told her that with a lot of effort and practice she might even be able to trap her opponents in made-up realities, something that would help her a lot in a battle.

Besides, Melinda had chosen to reveal her ability to make things explode. Although before anyone could even try and say that her power was evil Wyatt stepped-forth with the technical explanation he had once heard from his mother (that with that power you make the molecules move so fast they can stay together and split, making the object, person or whatever come apart, or explode).

.---.

Classes passed by fast, with classes progressing at a steady rhythm. Still, the ones the students always expected the most was DADA, and even those who hadn't showed any gift managed to prove they were good enough with a wand, a weapon, martial arts or a combination of those.

As much as the teachers in general were worried for a possible attack coming from Voldemort and his DE, Billie was clearly the most worried of them all.

There was a good reason for Billie's great worry, and it was that on one of the classes with the seventh years Lavender had gotten in some kind of trance while practicing with some tarot cards and declared something really disturbing:

"_No longer alone the Dark Lord is,_

_For now the Shadow Queen has joined him._

_Together they shall reign,_

_In the upcoming era of terror and despair._"

And as distressing as those words had been, they couldn't be ignored, for the three 'Fates' had confirmed them that very same day; after Hermione had astral-projected all the way to their condo in SF to talk to them; though they had also added another stanza:

"_Hope is not yet lost,_

_For the future still has a chance,_

_Destiny has chosen its defenders:_

_The White-Angel and the Lady of Light._"

That prophecy, that in a sense seemed to be a response to the one Lavender had given them, was quite confusing. None of them had ever heard of the titles of 'White Angel', or Lady of Light'. And when asked, the Elders didn't help them at all (not that they had been expecting much anyway).

The identity of the 'Shadow Queen' was a mystery to them all as well; but at least they had the hope that there was a way to win that war. There was only one slight problem. And it was that they still couldn't find a way to fit those two prophecies (especially the second one) with the one spoken by Sibyl Trelawney so many years ago (the prophecy that had condemned Harvey Potter to be pursued by the Dark Lord). And even then they didn't doubt of the veracity of all of them.

Knowing that it wouldn't do good to have the other teachers, and especially Prof. Dumbledore asking how they got their information Billie and the seven teens that knew her and helped her decided not to tell anything about the second prophecy, and Billie pretended not to have a way of knowing if Lavender's prophecy had been a real one or not. They all believed there was a lot more at stake than a girl's pride over an accomplishment.

.---.

They had all known that the wait would end sooner or later, when Voldemort finally made his move; however, they hadn't been expecting it to be so soon.

Officially to all the wizarding-world, and even though there had been other battles and a lot of trouble from the DE before, October the 31st was declared as the day the Second Great Magic War began.

It was a Hogsmeade weekend; meaning that most of the Hogwarts's students were somewhere in the wizard village having fun. Suddenly the Dark Mark appeared in the sky, and right as some people began screaming about it several dozens of cloaked figures apparated in random streets of the village.

When Harvey saw them from his spot next to the entrance to "The Three Broomsticks", the place he had been about to enter with his friends, he knew he had to make a decision: he could run, like many were trying to do already, or he could hold his ground and act like the hero so many people believed him to be.

"Crucio!" They heard a voice call.

And that word was followed by the shrieking scream of the innocent person (most probably a student) who had been unfortunate enough to be standing at the DE's path.

The only positive thing may be that that horrible scream was what finally made Harvey make up his mind.

"Listen!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "All of you who know how to duel, do it; the rest get cover inside the closest shop!"

Several began whispering, though they had stopped running aimlessly, apparently seeing the boy-who-lived saying those words had left them thinking.

"He's right." Ginny stood to his boyfriend's side. "We're more than them, why should we run when we can fight back?"

Without another word both of them, along with their two best friends: Lavender and Ron, got their wands out and began firing any spell that came to their minds, either to protect someone or attack the DE.

Even if some went back to running or trying to hide, some people did take the teen's words to heart and followed them, some more hesitantly than others.

A couple of minutes later the DE found themselves fighting off a resistance they hadn't been expecting to encounter after taking the village by surprise. They especially hadn't expected most of the members of that resistance to be the very students they had gone there to terrorize. Things were certainly not going the way they wanted them to.

.---.

Chris and Wyatt, who had gone with the students to see the village for the first time, and also keep an eye on the students, were quite surprised as well to see all of those who drew their wands to fight.

Henry, who had been the one showing everything to the brothers immediately used his powers to call to three of the white cloaks he and the others had used while fighting DE with their own powers at the end of the last school year; he handed one to each brother and put the other on, along with the masks.

"We must be quick and discreet." Henry told the other two as if he were talking to some kids younger than him and not the other way around. "We can't handle to have our covers blown up, not yet."

The other two nodded. They knew Henry was right.

With that they split and went to help as much as could, careful not to do things openly, and not leave any clue as to who they actually were.

.---.

Neville had been showing Luna some of his favorite plants in the botanical garden at the limits of Hogsmeade when suddenly he noticed his girlfriend was no longer at his side.

"Neville!" She cried out suddenly.

Neville turned around sharply to see his girlfriend being held back by two DE. What little training in martial arts he had had in the previous two months kicked in as he flexed his knees slightly, one foot in front of the other, both hands raised, one already with his wand, it was the basic defensive-position they had learnt recently.

"So the boy pretends to fight us?" One of the DE taunt us.

"He maybe thinks he can save his girl…" The other added. "Before we have some good 'fun' with her."

That last comment made Neville see red, he immediately jumped against the first man, leaving aside two basic rules in fighting: #1: Never leave an enemy out of your sight, and #2: Always be sure you have a way to defeat those you attack.

The DE just laughed as he shot a simple curse that sent Neville flying backwards until finally he landed in between some pots with plants.

"Neville!" Luna cried out worriedly.

"What a weakling…" The first DE said distastefully.

"You bastard…" Luna hissed.

"Don't talk to me in that tone girl…" The DE spat as he slapped her, hard.

Luna's cheek turned red and her head turned at the force of the slap, but no noise left her lips. She wasn't about to show to those evil men that what they had done had hurt her.

And suddenly, she had an idea, she concentrated hard, her eyes fixed on the first DE. All of a sudden a low growl could be heard, as a dark-orange, black-stripped, four-legged and tailed beast seemed to come out from some bushes; it was a tiger.

The DE stepped backwards, fear clear in his eyes; he hadn't been expecting to see an animal such as that in that place.

Luna silently turned to the tiger and then back to the DE. It was as if she had just given the animal some silent order as it immediately jumped against the DE, tackling him to the ground in a direct attack.

"No!" The DE cried out. "Get it off me! No!!"

Meanwhile, the second DE couldn't understand why his partner had suddenly dropped to the ground and began screaming in such a way. He couldn't see anything wrong, except the very deep gaze the girl had on him.

And it was that there was no tiger at all, it was a creation of Luna's mind, an illusion she had made her attacker believe real. For him it was so real he could even feel the weight of the animal above him, its foul breath across his face, and its paws against his skin.

"Reducto!" The second DE attacked Luna.

The attacked missed the girl almost miraculously; though it was still enough to break her concentration. The tiger vanished into thin air as she dropped to her knees, her breathing was labored and she was really exhausted. She had never held such a complex illusion for so long. It was an amazing achievement.

The DE noticed his partner had stopped his screaming after he attacked the girl, it was a good thing he had managed to stop whatever it was she had been doing, yet the harm was done already. The other man was unconscious already, apparently the fear was just too much for him and he ended falling into a deep shock, unconscious.

"What did you do to him b&$h?!" The DE yelled at Luna.

The girl didn't answer him. She barely had enough energy to remain awake at the moment, she certainly didn't have enough to get on a chat (or discussion), with him.

"Answer me!" The DE demanded. "Crucio!"

It was a miracle that Luna's reflexes still worked as she threw herself to a side, barely dodging the unforgivable curse that had been aimed at her.

"Neville!" Luna called suddenly, knowing she needed help if she wanted to make it out of that place alive. "The plants!"

Neither she nor her attacked heard any response from the boy who had been thrown back some minutes ago.

"It seems your boyfriend has abandoned you, you're all alone…" The DE began.

But he stopped mid-sentence when he noticed he couldn't move from his spot, and when he turned his eyes downwards he could see why: some thick vines were wrapping themselves around his legs, fast, immobilizing him.

"It seems you're wrong." Neville whispered as he stepped out behind the DE.

And before he got any chance to reply he was hit by a stupefy curse from behind, falling unconscious to the ground immediately, the vines still around his legs.

"Are you alright Luna?" Neville asked his girlfriend worriedly.

"I'm fine Neville." Luna nodded. "Only a bit tired."

Neville nodded and after making sure those DE wouldn't be able to move from their spots he helped his girl get on her feet and out of the botanical garden.

.---.

Back in the main part of Hogsmeade Harvey and Ginny were fighting back to back, just like Ron and Lavender, against the DE that attacked them. It seemed that the dark wizards went harder against them than against others because they had been the ones to motivate the rest of the people to fight.

Many of the others who were fighting had paired up as well, following the example of the two first couples; they knew it was easier that way, to watch each other's backs. Those who didn't know how to fight, or were too afraid to do it had finally managed to hide inside the different shops, a team of fighters always remaining near the entrances to stop the DEs from going inside; it would just be disastrous.

Lavender tried to keep her 'seer-eye' as alert as possible, so she could predict the attacks that came to her and Ron; so far it seemed to be working.

Ron still relied more on his wand than in his 'gift', though he couldn't deny that it was quite useful in the situation he and his friends had gotten themselves in. Even when he was moving with a greater speed and accuracy than he used to (thanks to the training in DADA), it was near impossible to create magic-shields to every attack that came; and he couldn't very well dodge them because then he would be putting Lavender in risk, who was right behind him, counting on him to protect her from behind, just like she did for him.

So, in such a situation Ron kept casting spell after spell with his wand in his right hand, while he also kept his left raised, concentrated in deflecting as many attacks as possible, so he didn't have to be continuously making the protergo spell.

Harvey and Ginny were having an even harder time getting rid of their own enemies. And it was that the DE saw them as the 'instigators' of the rebellion, and it a belief that if the leaders fell the rest wouldn't know what do, making them the greatest target.

However, the couple seemed to be holding themselves rather nicely. With all the training they had done in the last two months, not only during the class, but also to be ready for it; and even before, during the tournament, and after what had happened in the Ministry in fifth year.

Even if Ginny hadn't had as much training she was still quite talented at dueling, and her gift helped a lot. She could sense in which direction the attackers were, so she was able to have an almost perfect aim without having to take a very good look at her target first.

There was also the fact that Ginny wasn't the kind of person who gave up just because there was danger ahead; in fact many believed she liked doing dangerous things, maybe to prove that she wasn't just the little-Weasley-girl, youngest-of-seven-siblings. She wanted to prove everyone that she was more, much more, she was her own person, and was worthy of respect and admiration just as much as her boyfriend and the rest of their friends.

The fight between the DE and those wizards and witches who had dared opposed them went on for what seemed like hours. They were all getting tired, but none of them were about to accept defeat; even if some refused to do that because they were just too proud, and the others because their very lives depended on them hanging on.

"Expelliarmus!"

It was rather unexpected when that particular jinx hit Harvey head on. He didn't have any time to create a shield, dodge or whatever else he could have done. He was sent flying backwards until he hit the wall of a nearby building so hard that he lost his breath for a moment, and his wand was completely out of his reach, and even out of his sight.

"Harvey!" Ginny cried out worriedly.

She turned around, about to run to help her boyfriend, but right then she was attacked by even more DE than before. She had to concentrate as hard as possible to keep track of each and every one of her attackers so as to be able to defend against all of them at the same time. And even when she managed it was a very hard thing to do, and she knew she wouldn't be lasting too much that way. The more she concentrated in her gift the faster she lost her energy.

Billie had warned them about energy-drains when using their gifts too much, especially when considering that they weren't yet used to having such powers at their disposition. They had all learned to accept that, it was obvious they needed time and practice to be able to master such powers to their full extent; but they had never expected to be in a situation when they would need those gifts so much, yet not be ready yet.

It didn't pass unnoticed to Harvey how difficult it had become for his girlfriend to hold her ground while being attacked by so many; and Ron and Lavender couldn't help her, they had their hands full as it was.

The 'boy-who lived' noticed a DE that hadn't yet made his move, yet he was eyeing Ginny in a way that made Harvey feel disgusted. He immediately knew things could get pretty ugly if he didn't move…and that's what he did.

Ginny sensed the powerful unforgivable going straight to her, but she was already fighting off too many curses and DE at the same time, and the attack was coming from an angle she really couldn't access without exposing herself to the rest of her attackers. So she could only wait.

Yet the attack never came. And when she could immediately sense why, Harvey was behind her, holding a magic shield, a magic shield he had conjured with his bare hands.

Satisfied with his success Harvey silently summoned his wand, and as soon as he had it in his hand he began firing two series of spells, one with his wand, and one with his bare hand. It wasn't something easy, he required a lot of concentration and energy, but he trusted he could do it, he had to do it. He couldn't continue hiding like he had done so many times before, so many people believed in him, that he could help save them all, maybe it was time he finally began believing in himself.

* * *

Ok, first things first. As you may have noticed due to the title of the chapter, this is just the first half. The second half of this 'day' will come in the upcoming chapter, and will mainly talk about how Harry and his group will handle the attack. 

Now, as you may have noticed with this chapter and as I believed I had already said, Harvey isn't a bad guy; he just isn't as close to Harry as he probably should be. For all his life he's depended on his parents, always beliving what they said to him, and as they never took Harry in consideration, neither did he. But that's already changing; Harvey isn't a fool, he's noticed that strange things happened around his brother, and while he might not say it openly, he's worried for him. Now Harvey has decided to begin really fighting, for him, and not just for what titles others may call him. That will give a definite turn to this story.

Well, don't forget to leave reviews and prepare for the second half of "And Eventful Halloween", some important things will be handled there, and we'll see the return of a certain 'traitor'...

See you!


	11. An Eventful Halloween 2nd Part

**Chapter 10. ****An Eventful Halloween (2****nd**** Part) Proposals **

Some kind of magical-alarm went off at Hogwarts's not long after the attack at Hogsmeade began. The Professors that had reunited in their own common room to grade papers and get everything for their upcoming classes ready could hear it.

The instructions were given out immediately: those Professors who were Heads of one of the Houses would go to the respective tower to keep an eye on the students who remained in the castle (which mean McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick and Slughorn –as Snape's replacement.–) Professors Sinistra, Trelawney, and Vector would patrol de halls along with Mr. Filch; while Hagrid and Substitute-Professor Grubby-Plank kept a watch on the grounds. Dumbledore fire-called some of the members of the Order of the Phoenix, like Sirius, Tonks, Remus, Kingsley and some others; they would be going to Hogsmeade.

Billie was supposed to be accompanying the last group, but almost as soon as she stepped out of the castle she felt something. A strange power.

"This energy-signature, I've felt it before…" Billie murmured to herself, so low not even the Headmaster heard her. "But it can't be…yet I can't take any chances."

And with that she stepped away from Professor Dumbledore unnoticed and walked into the Forbidden Forest. She didn't really seem to care at all about all the things she had been told that happened in that forest, the dark creatures that lured in it; she was certain none of them could be worse than some of the things she had seen before.

.---.

The attack of the DE took many off-guard, Mel and Draco weren't the exception. They were walking near the shrieking-shack when suddenly a red shot of light passed right next to Mel, the curse obviously aimed at her had missed by mere millimeters.

Mel couldn't help but cry out as she jumped backwards in surprise.

Draco didn't even have to ask what was wrong, he already knew it. With a move of his hand his wand instantly moved from its place in his sleeve to his hand (it was in a wand-holster), and he dropped into a neutral stance, ready to attack or defend.

Mel quickly followed suit, adopting the same posture, except that she had her left hand raised and ready too, to freeze or explode anything if needed.

The fight began just a few seconds later. They weren't that many DE, just about half a dozen; but the fact that they knew who Draco was seemed to fuel their anger to be even more vicious than they normally were when attacking the teens.

Mel had resorted to freezing the scene a few times to prevent a tragedy from taking place, yet it wasn't easy. The dark wizards seemed to be way more powerful than that awful night at the graveyard two years and a half ago, they didn't stay frozen as long as before.

Draco knew no one was supposed to discover Mel's identity, so he did his best to fight off the DE, so she didn't have to use her 'special powers'. Yet Mel was also really worried for Draco, knowing he was in an awful lot of trouble because the DE considered him a traitor; she knew things would be really bad for him if she didn't keep him safe. Eventually the desires both of them had to protect each other became their downfall. Or more specifically: Mel's.

A cutting curse hit her in the arm, it wasn't enough to cause much real damage, but definitely sufficient to make her lower her guard; at least long enough time for a Cruciatus Spell to reach her, sending her in a whirlpool of pain as none she had ever experienced before.

Draco witnessed when the Unforgivable hit Mel and he silently berated himself for not having been able to prevent that from happening. Yet he also knew he couldn't dwell on it and instead do something to help his dear friend.

To everyone, especially the DE, surprise, even when the curse was obviously causing the gal a great deal of pain, no sound left her lips; she just plainly refused to let any sign of weakness show to her attackers.

With a burst of energy and anger Draco got rid of the remaining attackers (three of them, since the other two were already bound and unconscious). Leaving only the one who was currently having fun torturing Melinda.

Draco tried to use his own wand to attack the DE and therefore pull him out of what he was doing to Mel, but there was a very powerful shield upon him that made the young man's spells bounce off, ineffective.

Draco couldn't really handle the sight much longer, he concentrated as hard as he could, raised his bare hand and snapped his fingers in the direction of the man's wand.

There was a crack and Mel's semi-unconscious body dropped to the ground unceremoniously; the then DE turned to face Draco, an expression of confusion covering the smirk he had had while torturing the girl.

"What was that?" The DE asked.

Draco didn't give him an answer, his expression stern. His blood was boiling with anger at what he had done to the one who had been his first true friend, the one person to whom he owned his present freedom and happiness.

The DE attacked Draco; as he used a nonverbal spell the blonde had no way of knowing what the man had done, but it didn't matter either; he just snapped his fingers again, breaking the magic before it reached him.

The DE repeated the maneuver several times, always obtaining the same result.

"No one messes with those I care for and gets away with it." Draco hissed, his voice colder than an iceberg. "No one."

And before the DE could even know what was coming at him, the ice-blue eyed young man snapped his fingers once more and the man dropped to the ground limply.

Draco hadn't killed him, he didn't have enough power to do it yet; though there was no doubt that if he had been able to, he wouldn't have hesitated to do it. However, he had managed to cause some minor brain damage to the dark wizard, which had caused him to fall limply to the ground, affected some of his short-lapse memory and maybe the long-lapse one too. And even then Draco didn't believe that to be enough.

A moan of pain brought Draco out of his musings. He immediately pushed the thoughts of the DE aside as he dashed to where Mel was currently recovering full consciousness.

"Are you alright?" She asked to Draco worriedly.

"I should be the one asking that question, you know?" Draco replied worriedly.

"I'm fine." Mel replied, though for the weak tone in her voice it was obvious she was lying.

"Can't you heal yourself?" Draco asked.

"Not really, it's the only disadvantage to the powers as a white-lighter, I can heal others but not myself." Mel replied.

"That's stupid." Draco said bluntly.

"Tell me about it." Mel replied, she let him help her onto her feet. "Yet, it's not like I have any 'real' wounds to heal, besides the shoulder that is. We both know the Cruciatus Spell attacks the brain cells so you 'feel' pain, without your body really being hurt at all. The only reason you can't move afterwards is because your brain keeps sending the message of pain."

"I know, I know. We don't have to get all technical about it. Well, seeing as these bastards are already unconscious I suggest we better go find the others."

"Yes, they might need some help."

"My thoughts ran more along the lines of 'you' receiving 'help' from 'them'. Even with all the technicalities they might still be able to help you somehow."

Mel didn't answer to that, she knew Draco only wanted to help her.

Draco was just beginning to help her walk back to Hogsmeade when the sound of a twig breaking alerted them to the presence of yet someone else. The reaction of both of them was immediate. They spun around, wands in hand, Draco moving slightly to stand in front of Mel in a protective gesture.

Despite their injuries they were mentally (even if not exactly physically) ready to fight off anyone that may come. However, nothing could have prepared them for whom they actually saw standing before them:

"Draco…" The man whispered his name in a voice the blonde remember pretty well.

"Severus Snape…" Draco whispered, not quite believing it.

Mel's reaction was immediate, she raised both hands and was only a fraction of second away from activating her powers.

"No, wait." Draco put his free hand on her shoulder.

"But Draco he's a DE, a danger to us all and…" Mel couldn't believe Draco was considering the possibility of hearing what that man wanted to say.

"And he hasn't done anything against us." Draco finished. "I have a feeling he has something to say, something important. Lets hear him out first, ok?"

"Fine." Mel agreed, still not liking the idea. She turned to her former Potions' Professor and said coldly: "Just one suspicious movement and I swear I'll blow you up."

"You shouldn't go around making empty threats Miss Halliwell." Snape said casually.

"Who said it was an empty threat?" Mel retorted. "You don't know me Snape, not in the slightest. Don't believe you know what I'm capable or not of doing."

"After being in the receiving end of a Cruciatus curse no one is capable of much." Snape told her, and he seemed to be talking out of personal experience.

"You have no idea of what one is capable of when those close to them are in danger." Mel declared seriously. "Of what I'm capable of those I care for are in any danger…"

There was something not in her words, but in the way she spoke them that made Snape believe she was very capable of doing what she had just said.

But if the young woman's words weren't enough to shock the former professor beyond what he had ever believed possible, what followed did: Draco Malfoy, smiling, at her; not a cold smirk, or an evil grin, but a true, warm smile.

Snape had known Draco for a long time, and he had never seen the boy smile the way he was doing in that moment. Who exactly was Melinda Halliwell? What had she done to make that boy change so much, and in such a little time? There were undoubtedly many questions, but the answers would have to wait for a better time, right then he had things to do.

"I'm here to give you information about the last horcrux." Snape declared simply.

"Horcrux?" Draco almost couldn't believe his ears.

"Yes." Snape replied. "A horcrux is…"

"We know what a horcrux is." Mel interrupted him swiftly.

"You do?" Snape asked, slightly surprised.

The teens knew why the man was like that. Everything related to the horcruxes was supposed to be pretty confidential. In fact, the only reason they knew about it was because Harvey had talked about them with Harry. The things in which Voldemort had left pieces of his soul, there were six of them and Professor Dumbledore, along with Harvey, his closest friends and the Order of the Phoenix had been searching for them for about a year and a half. So far they had destroyed three horcruxes: Riddle's diary, the Gaunt's ring and the Slytherin locket (which they had found hidden in a secret room in Black Manor). They were currently searching for the fourth: Hufflepuff's cup. They believed the fifth was Nagini, Voldemort's pet-snake, while the sixth and last was supposed to be something that had belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw, yet they didn't know what it could be or where to find it.

"Yes." Draco took charge of the situation. "It doesn't matter how or why we know. What does matter is what information you could have that may interest us."

"You shouldn't talk to me in that tone boy." Snape didn't like Draco taking his usual attitude against him.

"I talk in whatever tone I wish to Pro…no, Snape." Draco told him. "You're no longer my professor, and therefore you can do nothing about it. You came here for some reason, I'm waiting to know what it is."

"I know what the sixth horcrux is." Snape declared. "It's a wooden music box that belonged to Ravenclaw; the Dark Lord had given it to the Lestranges for safe-keeping so right now it could be in the power of an auror, or even in the Ministry."

Draco sighed, that was certainly troublesome.

"How do we know what you're telling us is the truth, and not only a trap?" Mel asked.

"You don't." Snape replied calmly. "But what reason would I have to tell you such a lie?"

"There could be many reasons." Mel replied. "As I said it could be a trap. If Voldemort…"

"The Dark Lord doesn't even know what you're doing, yet." Snape interrupted her. "And you shouldn't go around saying his name as if it were nothing."

"Oh, you mean: Voldemort?" Melinda taunted shamelessly. "Vol-de-mort. Voldemort! Tom Riddle! Whatever his name, I really don't care. He's a crazy bastard, and we've gotta stop him before he destroys the whole world, period."

"You must be really crazy girl, or be wishing for a very painful death." Snape hissed.

"Oh no, I like my life very much, it's a good life." Mel said casually. "The thing is, I'm not afraid of fighting whoever I need to in order to defend myself and others. I was born with the power to do it, and I'll do it, no matter what or who or why. Got it?"

Those words definitely shocked Snape, he never expected to hear something like that. Melinda talked in such a careless manner, yet she sounded pretty sure of her words.

"It seems She was right." Snape commented. "Dumbledore has finally gotten himself some powerful allies."

Those words left both teenagers pretty confused. Who was 'She'?

"But then so does he." Snape continued.

"You're talking about the Shadow Lady, right?" Mel guessed suddenly. "Who is she?"

"I don't know." Snape answered truthfully. "I already did what I came to do. It's up to you if you take that information seriously or not. What happens from now on with all of you will no longer be my problem."

"But it'll be." Mel said, softly now. "'Cause if we get to fight again, what will you do then?"

"That's my problem, not yours Miss Halliwell." Snape spat.

With that he spun around and moved to leave.

"You know, it's not that bad to admit that sometimes you need help." Mel called to him. "It's really not that difficult to admit one person can't do everything on their own. We're not gods, we're humans, we can commit mistakes, and we can be forgiven."

"Not all of us…" That was the last things they heard from Snape before he disappeared into the Forbidden Forest.

.---.

Harry and Hermy weren't as surprised when they found themselves surrounded by DE as their friends had been. They both had been able to feel the evil energies approaching before even the first DE had apparated.

Hermione created a psychic-wave that could easily throw off half of the dark wizards at the same time. She was about to repeat it to get rid of the rest when suddenly she brought both hands to her neck, her breathing quickly became labored.

"Hermy!" Harry cried out worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"Can't…breathe…" Hermy whispered back at him.

Harry immediately concentrated and created one of the strongest shields he could around his charge and himself, effectively cutting off the 'connection' her attacker had with her.

"Are you ok now?" He asked her.

Hermy just nodded as she took deep breaths; that had been a close one.

"Come out you bastard!" Harry called in a serious tone. "Or are you such a coward that you prefer to attack my friend from the shadows instead of facing us directly?"

"Such strong words, spoken by a mere child…" A cold hissing voice spoke. "Yet it isn't any child, but the twin brother of the one who deprived me of my powers for more than a decade. I have to wonder, kid, are you as powerful as the boy-who-lived, or a simple nuisance?"

"Why don't you come out and we can find out?" Harry dared him, wand in hand.

"You shouldn't call out challenges without first knowing who you're talking to, boy." The voice taunted him.

"Oh, but I know perfectly well who I'm talking to, Voldemort…or was it Tom?" Harry replied in a slightly mocking tone.

One of the DE still standing didn't seem to like the one in which Harry spoke to his 'master', so he threw a Reducto at him.

Neither Harry nor Hermy moved a muscle. The light of the spell hit the shield, made it vibrate slightly and then simply vanished into it. The shield was just too strong.

"Seems She was right, I may have underestimated you, boy." Voldemort finally came out.

"Stop calling me boy." Harry said calmly. "I have a name: Harry Potter."

"That's right." Voldemort nodded. "Harry Potter, the forgotten son of James and Lily Potter. It's such a pity that someone with such courage and power is so overlooked by all of those around him, even his own family."

"You don't know anything about me."

"Oh but I know. I know you possess great power, and knowledge, yet no one has ever paid you attention. You've always been nothing but your brother's shadow; the twin of the boy-who-lived. Aren't you tired of living in the anonymity?"

"Truthfully not, I very much like my life the way it is right now."

"Oh but you could have more, so much more. If you just joined me…We could do great things together. You and me…the world would be ours."

"You're nuts."

"Not really. You and I aren't much different really; both powerful wizards, both with though pasts, wanting nothing but to prove ourselves. We both have been underestimated by those around us, and together we can prove to everyone in the world how foolish they were not to venerate us when they had the chance."

"Venerate? Now I really think your brain isn't working properly."

"Don't mock me boy! I'm giving you the chance to be great! To be a god!"

Hermy wanted to say something, but didn't know what. The shield was long gone, yet they hadn't been attacked again, yet. Though that didn't mean she wasn't ready to fight.

"Let me see if I understand this." Harry said suddenly. "You expect me to ally with you. To turn my back on my friends, my family, on my own principles and help you destroy the world I love? You definitely are insane!"

"No, not destroy it, transform it." Voldemort said cynically. "Make it a better place for us! With us as the kings!"

"Not in this lifetime, in fact, not in any lifetime." Harry declared dead-serious. "Listen to me carefully Tom, because I won't repeat myself. I would never help one who has allied himself with creatures as treacherous as the demons from the underworld, the scum of the very hell; I would never go against what I've been taught my whole life, to protect the innocents. But specially, I will never, ever, betray those I care for. You expect me to collaborate with you, you who have tried to kill my own brother more times than I can count! Never! I will first do everything in my power to see you destroyed once and forever."

"Then, if you don't come to my side, you will die." Voldemort declared. "Both you and your girl." He raised his wand. "Crucio!"

It all happened too fast. A scream could be heard as the spell hit, but the victim hadn't been Harry, nor Hermy, but a DE. Hermy was in fact standing in front of Harry, her hands raised, she had just used her telekinesis to deflect the spell.

"Over my dead body…" She hissed at Voldemort.

With more courage than even she believed herself capable of she created a new psychic wave that sent all of the enemies flying backwards until they hit walls, trees or the ground.

"As you wish." Voldemort declared, being the less affected by the power, he raised his wand once more and attacked. "Avada Kedavra!"

"No!" Harry called out.

There was a green flash of light that hit a psychic-shield Hermy had barely managed to pull up. She had both hands up and her brow furrowed, signaling just how much she was having to concentrate to keep it.

The spell began cracking its way through the shield, it was obviously a lot more powerful than the one she had deflected the previous summer to save Professor Dumbledore. There was a greater evil behind it.

Yet before the spell could hit its target it was met by a golden flash of light that annulated it before going straight for Voldemort, sending him to the ground rather hard.

Harry was standing right next to Hermy, his own hands raised, he had been the one to expulse the golden flash, energy in its purest form.

"It seems She was right." Voldemort said thoughtfully as he got on his feet. "You aren't mere kids…things shall get very interesting…"

"Don't mess with me and mine unless you wanna die in a very painful way Tom." Harry said fiercely. "And I'll let you know this isn't a threat, it is a promise."

Voldemort didn't said a single thing more, he just disappeared, it seemed he had had enough, at least for the moment being.

Relieved Hermy let her shield and hands down as she laid against Harry's chest, she was just too tired at the moment.

"You alright?" Harry asked.

"Exhausted." Hermy admitted. "But I'm worried about something, Harry. Who is She?"

"I don't know." Harry admitted.

And truth be told, that worried him as much as her.

* * *

So, now you've seen what our dear heroes are capable of. But even if there isn't a third part for the "Eventful Halloween", the day hasn't yet come to an end. Many surprises are yet to come, and some won't be exactly pleasant. 

Someone asked me to write down a description of each character, along with the powers they posess, I'll be doing just that, but until after the next chapter. The reason is because in these few chapters is where most of the important characters are showing their real powers for the first time (at least in the fic). If I uploaded the list first I would be ruining some surprises. But don't worry, the list will be done, you'll see it soon enough.

Hope you'll leave reviews, I'm getting less now than when I began this fic, I hope you people will decide to grace me with your opinions or at least some signal that you're reading this, please.

In the following chapter: We'll know what Billie found when she followed her magical senses, what the consequences of the large attack will be, maybe solve a part of the cryptic puzzle formed by Lavender's and the Three Fate's prophecies (maybe confuse you all even more). The _Games of War_, are coming.


	12. Game of War

**Chapter 11. ****Game of War **

Hermione was currently laying on her back on one of the loveseats at 'Morgana's Common Room' as Billie called it; her head on Harry's lap. They were both very tired after the fight, they had used a lot of power, and it would take them a while to recover.

Draco and Mel were seated one next to the other in another of the loveseats. Draco making sure she was comfortable; Harry had already done what he could to heal her but she needed rest more than anything else. Draco was tired as well, but he tried not to let it show.

Henry was sitting in one of the sofas, while Wyatt and Chris sat on chairs. They had been the lasts of the group to get to the Common Room as they had waited in Hogsmeade until all the students had made their way back to the castle.

Wyatt and Chris had been really concerned when seeing the state in which their little sister was, but on the other hand they were very satisfied when hearing how Draco had defended her, he may just be the right person for Mel (even if they would never admit it aloud).

The only reason why all of them were currently sitting in that room and not lying down on their respective beds was because they were waiting for Billie to arrive. Many things had happened that needed to be talked between all of them before any of them could even think about getting some very well-deserved rest.

The woman they had been thinking about arrived right then, coming through the portrait that became ethereal when the password was said. However, she looked pretty worse than all of the teens and young adults put together; she wasn't hurt physically, but those with in the room with white-lighter blood could easily feel her distress.

"Auntie Billie, are you alright?" Chris asked, being the first to voice his worries.

When he didn't get an answer he guided the very stressed-out woman to the nearest sofa and helped her sit down.

Henry used his powers to orb in a mug of tea with some Calming Potion, hoping that would help her relax a bit.

"Auntie Billie, are you alright?" Chris repeated his question.

Once again there was no answer, it seemed almost as if Billie's mind was currently some place else, and in a way it was…

Flashback 

"This energy-signature, this power…I know I've felt it before…I'm sure…" Billie murmured to herself over and over again as she made her way through the forest.

She made her way silently, all thoughts of helping the teens forgotten, at least for the moment being; she just couldn't get off the feeling that she knew the person to whom that energy belonged, and that it wasn't good.

Finally she came out to the limits of the woods, almost on the other side. There were standing two people dressed in dark clothes; the man seemed to be wearing robes and a cloak, while the woman wore a very low-necked, sleeveless, long black dress.

"The Dark Lord and the Shadow Queen…" Billie understood who those two were almost immediately.

"Why did you make me leave?!" The man seemed to be very angry at the woman for some unknown reason.

"Why? You almost died and you're asking me why?" The woman said ironically.

"Dead? Those two wouldn't have been able to kill me, not even if I had given them the chance to do it." Voldemort said cockily.

"Stupid." The woman backhanded him.

Voldemort was furious at that, he was about to slap the woman, but she just raised her hand and he couldn't touch her.

"I told you I'm working 'with' you, not 'for' you." The woman said seriously. "You may be feared by all the damned mortals in this country, but I'm still way stronger than you, don't forget that. Because the day you do I might just stop needing you, and get rid of you in an instant. You know I can do it."

Voldemort didn't answer, but it was obvious he believed those words.

"And about those children, I expected you to have noticed." She continued. "They are no mere kids, not even under magical terms. She's a Sorceress, with a level that rivals even that of her soul-mother, the former Charmed One, Prudence Halliwell; while him…he's like sort of his magic protector."

"You seem to know a lot about their kind." Voldemort commented.

"Of course I know, I've met the Halliwells." The woman said. "Piper, Phoebe and Paige, the Charmed Ones; every single demon and evil creature of the Underworld has heard about them. And even so many years after their last 'great battle' some still cringe at the mere sound of their names, or that of their children."

"They are mere children…" Voldemort hissed angrily.

"Just like the 'boy-who-lived'." The woman taunted him. "Yet he's the reason why you're still hiding here and not having your reign of darkness…yet."

"So let me see if I understand clearly: you want this allegiance just so you can get rid of a bunch of brats, the children of those women?"

"Exactly, and in exchange I'll help you get rid of the brat that's been bothering you for the past decade and a half…"

Billie almost panicked right then and there. Those two were planning on getting rid of the children! And of Harry's brother!

She was about to run back the way she had come (she wasn't as stupid as to try and take out on both dark leaders being on her own); when things got even worse.

"My Lord! My Lord!" Some more men in dark clothes entered the clearing screaming, when seeing he was accompanied they added. "My lady…"

"What's with all the racket?" Voldemort asked angrily.

It was obvious both him and his companion were very much displeased by the interruption those men represented in their conversation.

"The plan backfired my lord, my lady." One of the man dared speak. "They fought back. That Potter boy, and his friends; and many more followed them. We had no way of defeating them all; many fell, and the few of us who remained had to retreat."

"And you call yourself the harbingers of the darkness?" The woman hissed, furious now.

"My lady, please understand…" The man went to kneel before her.

"I don't tolerate weaklings." She spat as she kicked the man away.

And then, to Billie's great shock and horror, her deep eyes laid on each and every one of the cloaked men, all of them who were trembling for fear; and only a second later their bodies were enveloped in flames.

'It can't be…' Billie thought horrified as she ran away. 'That fire…those eyes…it just can't be…it can't be…'

End of Flashback 

She didn't want to believe it, but even now, as she sat in that Common Room she couldn't get the image of those men been burned alive out of her head, nor could she erase the sound of their cries in agony.

She berated herself for not having done something to help them. Even if they were evil, they didn't deserve to have died in such a way, no one did. Yet the shock and the horror had been just too great, along with the fear she felt, not for herself, but for the teenagers. She felt she had to warn them, they needed to know who their real enemy was, even more than Voldemort, they needed to be prepared.

"Auntie Billie…" Mel called, she was now kneeling next to the older woman, concern clear on her face.

"It's her…" Billie finally whispered.

"What?" The boys didn't understand.

"Who are you talking about Auntie Billie?" Mel asked, still in the same tone.

"The Shadow Lady…I know who she is…" Billie's tone of voice was still very low, almost as if she feared being heard by the wrong person.

"Who?" Wyatt asked immediately.

"Who is she?" Henry joined immediately.

"Calm down." Hermy ordered them. "Don't you see she's already distressed enough?"

"I saw her…with that Lord V-Voldemort." Billie explained. "I c-could feel her…her energy. And I was…I was sure I had felt it before, so…I followed it. I heard them arguing, she kept saying how she was more powerful than him and…and he talked about you, about all of you, and also about Piper, Phoebe and Paige…"

"That means they already know about us…" Chris said in mid-shock.

"They already know who we are…" Henry added. "This is bad."

"Correction, very bad." Hermione said.

"What else Auntie Billie?" Mel persuaded the woman to continue.

"Some of their minions arrived, to inform of their defeat." Billie explained. "They bowed to them and…one even got on his knees. They were begging for forgiveness but…but she just kicked him away and…"

Her voice broke.

The teens had the feeling that what followed wouldn't be good.

"She burnt them all alive…all of them…" Billie sobbed. "It was awful…"

They waited for a while before Wyatt dared speak once again.

"You said you knew who she was Auntie Billie…" Wyatt murmured softly. "Can you tell us that woman's name, please?"

For a while there was no answer, and the teens began wondering if they should insist, or wait until she was feeling better. Yet they had no need to do either, as they got their answer right in that moment.

"Chris…ty…" Came the broken and startling reply.

"Oh my god…" Both gals in the room gasped as they sat on their toes, a mix of shock, horror and compassion showed clearly in her eyes.

"What did she say?" Chris asked, as he hadn't been able to hear.

"Christy…" Henry, who hadn't been closer, informed the rest.

"It can't be…" Both brothers were just as shocked as the gals.

"Who is that?" Draco asked, very much confused. "Who is that woman?"

"Christy Jenkins…" Henry repeated, this time the full name.

"Jenkins?" Draco asked, suddenly understanding. "Wait a second, you mean?"

"Her sister." Harry confirmed.

Draco couldn't help but think that things were messed up, really messed up.

.---.

It took Billie a lot of time and a very great effort to deal with the fact that her older sister had come back from the death, and was still being evil.

The teens, meanwhile, seemed to be finding explanations to quite several things: like the spell that made Harry's family not care about him, the fact that the power of the DE had increased so dramatically in such a little time, and the prophecy Lavender had chanted during one of the DADA classes. Now they just needed to discover who were the ones mentioned in the other prophecy, and how they would manage to defeat both Voldemort and Christy (not to say their armies, which were due to be huge).

The Charmed Ones and the rest of the family back in SF were informed of everything, but being realistic there wasn't much they could do. They had their own works to attend back in U.S.A. and they couldn't leave that part unprotected from the demons that still walked around once in a while.

.---.

On the other hand, after it had been officially declared in the Daily Prophet that the War had begun, many things changed.

Aurors got on the move, patrolling streets, mainly places wizards were known to attend, like the Ministry, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, etc. Also several aurors were sent to guard Hogwarts, from the doors, to make sure no one suspicious would enter.

Wards were improved also in any important magical place. In Hogwarts those wards included the sealing of each and every secret passageway, except for the one that lead to Honeydukes, as Professor Dumbledore believed it would be a good idea to have an emergency exit in case they were attacked.

Also a group of students got together and formed what they called the "Defense Association" (though in secret some said it was in truth Dumbledore's army), known also as the D.A. for short. It was formed by students of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff who were willing to fight the DE. Most of them also had proven to have 'gifts' or a great talent in martial arts, weaponry or a mix of them.

The leader of the group was declared to be, as could have been expected: Harvey Potter, while his main supporters were Ginny, Ron, Lavender, Luna and Neville. The six of them had taken it upon themselves to study as much as they could, and also to pass that knowledge to the rest of the members of the D.A.

The adults in charge of supervising that group were Billie, Wyatt and Chris in what respected to gifts, and what most called 'muggle-fighting techniques' (martial arts and weaponry), while Remus Lupin and Sirius Black supervised what referred to the use of a wand.

The D.A. came out to be a great group, they trained the students, who advanced in a rather fast way, they all seemed to eager to demonstrate that even being so young (most of them weren't even off age), even when they weren't aurors, they could still fight off any evil wizard and actually have a chance of coming out victorious.

All in all, a group like the D.A. probably wouldn't sit well with the Ministry, even weeks after the fights in Hogsmeade they were still trying to give a good excuse to the public as to why a bunch of students had had to fend off the DE for themselves. The people certainly hadn't liked to discover that the aurors weren't always where they were needed. It was for those reasons that it'd been decided that, even if just for the moment being, the existence of the D.A. would be kept in secret. It was probably better that way.

.---.

So the days passed, and they turned into weeks. The war was raging on out in different parts of the world but, gratefully, the students hadn't been immersed in another battle, yet.

It was after some meetings of the D.A. Harvey noticed that neither Harry nor his friends had signed up as members. He wondered why, for what he had seen in DADA all of them were quite good at it, even Draco Malfoy. Even if Harvey had never gotten along much with the Slytherin boy he seemed to get along with his twin and the others, and someone with his ability would be really useful in the war.

With all that in mind Harvey decided to go look for his brother, maybe try and convince him of joining the D.A. It took him a while but finally the Gryffindor twin found the Ravenclaw one in the owlery, where Harry was petting Hedwig while thinking in everything that was going on around them.

"Hey Harry." Harvey called.

"Hello brother." Harry greeted him with a soft smile. "What is it? I have the feeling you've been looking for me."

"That's right." Harvey admitted. "I wanted to talk to you about the D.A…."

"I should have guessed as much." Harry nodded.

"Why didn't you and your friends sign in for the group? I've seen you in DADA class, you're all great. You could be a great asset now that the war has begun."

"I know you're right, but I can't…we can't…it's just that…I really can't explain it."

"Don't worry. I think I understand."

"Really?" Harry raised a brow, confused.

"Well, I'm not saying I know exactly why you and your friends aren't joining the group. But for a long time now I've had the feeling that you, and them, are very different from me and from most of us. It's as if you had upon your shoulders a burden a lot greater than the one the rest of us carry."

"Harvey…"

"I don't know exactly what's the reason for that. And I guess that if you haven't told me so far there must be a reason, so I won't pry. As long as you're not alone, I think it's alright."

"Thank you for that. And no, I'm not alone, I'll always have Hermy, Henry and the rest. I'm sorry for not being able to tell you some things, but I wouldn't know how to explain it all. Maybe some day…"

"Yeah…"

"But anyway. Even if neither I nor any of my friends are part of the D.A., know we'll always be willing to help you. Anytime. If you ever need my help you just have to call my name."

"And you'll always be able to count on me too Harry."

"I know Harvey, I know."

Without further ado Harry moved his arm, Hedwig seemed to understand and flapped her wings, leaving. Harry left immediately after, leaving his brother behind.

"You told him to just call your name…" A soft feminine voice commented from behind him just as he entered one of the halls.

Harry didn't seem surprised at seeing her there, coming from behind a column, and not even bothering in trying to hide the fact that she had been waiting for him.

"That I did." He nodded.

"Yet you know such things only work when it's between a white-lighter and their charge." She reminded him softly.

"I know." Harry admitted. "And it took me a great time to make the Elders accept, but from this day and until this damn war is over, my brother holds the same status as any possible charge of mine would."

"Like me…" She whispered.

"You're different Hermy. I've told you time and time again, you're more than my charge…a lot more…"

"I know…"

And as if it were the most normal thing in the world, she raised on her toes and kissed him, just a brief kiss on his lips. Then she smiled softly, as a faint blush covered her cheeks and she fell into step, next to him, once more.

Silence reigned for a long while, even when she slipped her hand into his and he acknowledge the action by squeezing it slightly, no words were said.

Hermione just sighed, but said nothing about it.

"You know how I feel for you, right?" Harry asked, suddenly stopping his walk, and standing right in front of her. "Even if I just can't bring myself to say the words…you know that I…"

"I know Harry, I know." Hermione assured him softly, one of her fingers on his lips. "I know it is hard for you to say the words, but I also know that the fact that you can't bring yourself to say them doesn't mean you don't feel them."

"I don't know why it is, I just…" Harry was babbling, and he knew it.

"Don't worry." She stopped him once again. "One day you'll be able to say it, I know it. And it'll make me very happy. I don't mind having to wait, I'm a patient person. And no matter how long it may take, know that I'll always be here for you…always…"

Harry just nodded in silence, brought both of her hands to his lips and kissed them, as if telling her: 'me too', which made her smile softly.

He didn't know why, but he just couldn't bring himself to say that he loved her. He had made it known to her, ever since the past summer, when she had projected herself into his house and they had kissed, in the way they had unconsciously wished to do since the previous year. But that time there were no interruptions, they both talked about their feelings and accepted the fact that their feelings went beyond those of friends. They became a couple, and even if it was usual for them to embrace or share secret kisses once in a while, for some reason Harry had never been able to bring himself to say the three words: I love you.

Hermione was a patient person, and as she had already said, she knew that even if he couldn't say the words, he loved her nonetheless, and that was enough. But also for that same reason, she had never said the words herself, she didn't want to press Harry into saying something he didn't feel safe saying yet.

None of them knew what caused that little 'problem', but as it didn't stop them from actively showing how much they cared for each other they didn't heed it much.

Another thing to be considered was the fact that no one really knew 'officially' about Harry's and Hermy's relationship. Those two had always been so close, ever since Harry's arrival (no one had forgotten how he'd protected her the night the dark-lighter had attacked the Halliwell manor). So it wasn't really strange for any of their friends to see them hanging out together, or even going someplace or another just the two of them.

.---.

The board had been laid out, the pieces were already on the move. Even if the most powerful of them yet remained behind, acting from the shadows, not quite ready to show themselves to the world.

And even then the enemy was attacking hard and fast, ready to do anything and everything needed to turn the situation to his favor.

Now that this game of war has begun…Who will claim the victory?

* * *

And we now know who one of the three prophesized people is. We're just missing two! 

Well, now the game is set. And the war has officially begun. But what you've seen thus far is nothing compared to what is coming.

Now, on the next update you'll be seeing a list of the powers each of the important characters possess (the good guys mainly). This because someone asked me to do it, so you wouldn't be confused as to who has what power (the confusion I believe arises from the fact that I took the liberty of changing slightly the powers of Piper's children, and chose the powers of the others the way I wished to; and then there's the very particular situation of Harry and Hermione).

Anyway, so next update will be that, and then we'll get really into the war. Two magical societies fighting, even if not completely together. And another evil that will come to mess up things even more. For those who wanted the Charmed Ones and the rest of their family to become more involved in everything, I have to say that your wish will be granted (things are bound to get Extremely complicated). I hope you'll like what I'm planning for the future.

Now, there's one thing. For what I've seen in my status 64 people have this story in their Story Alerts, what I'm wondering is why then I've never had more than seven reviews per chapter (most of the times I barely get five). You know people, if you All (or at least half of you), took the time to leave a review (however small), I would feel more motivated to write and would update faster (and that's a fact). I've been wondering if there's a chance that more of you will begin leaving me review...

Well, that's all for now. Hope I'll receive more reviews this time around. See you next update.


	13. Power Index not a chapter

A little correction has been made with Wyatt's and Chris's ages, as I had mixed them up. My apologies. It's alright now.

**Power Index **

Wyatt Mathew (22) Called the "Twice-Blessed-Child'. Demon Hunter, with the powers to orb, locate others, change his appearance at will, become invisible, create shields, and cast spells (wicca and wand); the power of healing he can use only when with his brother, but it takes a great toll on him.

Christopher Perry (21) Called "The Traveler". Demon Hunter, with the powers to orb, locate others, change his appearance at will, become invisible, create shields, and cast spells (wicca and wand); the power of healing he can use only with help from his brother, but it takes a great toll on him.

Melinda Prudence (16) Called "The Golen Avatar" (the reason will be known in future chapters). Witch and Demon Huntress, with the powers to locate others, communicate with them, and regenerate (both things and persons), as well as to freeze, heat, make something explode and cast spells.

Henry Samuel (17) Wizard and White-lighter, with the powers or: orbing, telekinetic-orbing, locate others, communicate with charges, change appearance at will, regenerate things (not persons), and cast spells.

Padme and Pamela (14) They have the power to locate others, sense magic and communicate telepathically with whomever they share a connection (like family); they can cast spells (wicca) but only when working together.

Patience (17), Colleen (15), Grace (13)Called "The Fates". They have the power to teleport the way cupids do, have some mild-empathy, and are the best at making predictions (past, present or future). Rumors have it that together they are the equivalent of a Destiny-Angel.

Hermione Patricia (17)Witch, and Demon Huntress. Her powers are: telekinesis (mind only), levitation, astral projection (either visible or invisible).

Harry Evan (17)Wizard, considered as both a White-lighter and a Demon Hunter. With the power to orb, locate others, change his appearance at will, become invisible, create shields, regenerate (both things and people), manipulate pure-energy (wandless magic) and cast spells.

Harvey James (17) Called 'The-Boy-who-lived' (even if wrongfully so). Wizard, with the gift of wandless magic.

Ginevra Molly (16) Witch, with the gift of empathy.

Ronald Billius (17) Wizard, with the gift of deflection.

Lavender (17) Witch, with the gift of prophecy.

Neville Frank (17) Wizard, with the gift of manipulating nature.

Luna (16) Witch, with the gift of creating illusions.

Draco Lucius (17) Wizard and unofficial Demon Hunter, with the gift of breaking magic and energy flows.

Cho (18) Witch, with the gift of conjuring.

Nymphadora Tonks Witch, with the gift of shapeshifting.

.---.

Melinda's powers will be relisted in the future, when the explanation of her 'title' comes.

As any fan of Charmed must have noticed, Wyatt's and Chris's powers have changed from what could be seen in the original series. This can be explained by the different universe in which they lived (different from the one the 'future Chris' came from); or only with the fact that I didn't want to make them all-powerful, because then they wouldn't need help from their sister or friends to fight, and I wanted them to work as a team.

There are characters I didn't mention, like all the adults, and others like Billie, Christy, and Bianca; but this is because their powers are exactly the same as in the original series, I considered necessary only to enlist here those who I have created or manipulated for this fic.

There's one more original character missing, but as she won't make her appearance until three more chapters or so I decided to wait until then to mention her powers (I don't want to ruin any of the surprises I have planned).

More or less like Mel, Wyatt is also missing a detail or two in his powers, which will be mentioned along with the future-new-character.

Recently I've found lots of 'fic-trailers' in Youtube, and I've been wondering if anyone would be interested in making one for this fic. I would really like to see one done, but being honest I'm not too good at making videos, and I know there are lots of very talented people around. About what I would give for the video…well, I honestly don't have much to offer, except my thanks and if the creator so wishes a participation in my fic (the details can be consulted with me through a review, PM or mail).

I'll use this moment to apologize to everyone who was expecting a new chapter, it will be done in about a week or two more I promise. I've had so much work with school, social service and whatnot…but now that I've gotten used to the new routine I'm back on track. And with everything I'm planning for the following chapters…I promise you the wait will be worth it.

And about the next chapter: Is Snape to be trusted? What's the last horcrux? Will the Charmed-children be able to destroy it? Draco will get to know some more things about his new friends' past, and Dumbledore will get a reassurance that the light side is not as lost as he feared. All this is: _The Last Horcrux_.


	14. The Last Horcrux

**Chapter 12. ****The Last Horcrux **

"Are we really going to trust Snape with something like this?" Chris asked, his arms crossed, his face showing evident disagreement.

It had been some time since Halloween, a month and a half to be precise. The Christmas break had just begun, and the group had finally decided to take some time to talk and decide what they would be doing next. Of course, the first thing that came up was Draco's and Mel's little chat with the former Potions' Professor.

"The question should be, can we take the luxury of not taking his words in consideration?" Henry changed the question. "I know most of you don't like Snape, I personally don't mind him. But the thing is, that if he's right and we do nothing, it would be even worse than if we try and fail."

"Henry is right." Draco nodded. "I know most of you don't trust him; but if you could give me a second chance, can't you do the same thing for him? I understand it might be a bit much to ask, but I do think it's worth it."

"I believe it too." Mel immediately stood up next to Draco. "You all know I just don't like Snape. The way he always tried to undermine me, refusing to accept the real talent I have in Potions just because he can't accept there's someone with as much talent as him…yet I do believe that it's time we push aside our grudges and look at the bigger picture. And here the bigger picture involves the safety of the whole world, magical and non-magical. Are we really willing to put the safety of that many people at stake because some of us aren't mature enough to work with Snape?"

No one needed to answer that question; the final decision was obvious already. They'd never let immatureness nor grudges step in the way of protecting the innocent; it was well known the kind of alliances the Charmed Ones had had to do in order to assure the safety of many (like with the Four Riders of the Apocalypse, to save Prue once; with the demons to lock the Void once again; or even when they had had to work with a white-lighter they didn't like just so she would give her approval for Piper's and Leo's marriage).

"So what do we do now?" Chris asked.

"Now, we begin searching for any possible place where that music-box might be located." His older brother declared.

"You have any idea how long that will take us?" Chris said, scandalized.

"Not that much." Mel told them.

"Explain yourself." Henry indicated.

"I knew you wouldn't like to have to look everywhere for the horcrux." Mel explained. "So I convinced Draco that before we told you we should have something better than just the former Professors words. I already scryed for the object's energy, including the obvious presence of dark energies; Draco helped me with that. We found two possible locations."

"Only two?" Billie was quite surprised.

"Well, there were a few more, but most could be easily scratched due to their location, their surroundings and other things." Mel continued explaining. "We came to the conclusion that the music-box is either in the Ministry, or in Azkaban."

"You sure must be crazy if you even think about going to either place to get that thing." Wyatt declared immediately.

"As crazy as it may be, that's exactly what we've gotta do." Harry declared seriously.

And they all knew he was right.

.---.

They decided to act right away. Taking advantage that the following day was Saturday, and a visit to Hogsmeade had been scheduled, it was the perfect opportunity. (Even after what had happened in Halloween, the Headmaster had seen no need for the visits to the village to be forbidden, after all, they all knew the wizard-teens had proven they were able to take care of themselves; having forbidden them to go would only have made them angry with the adults for overprotecting them, or would have made them doubt their own abilities to fight the Dark Lord and his minions).

The group waited until the last students had entered the village, they themselves had left the castle in the same direction, but then hid behind the Shrieking Shack before fully reaching the village streets.

Billie would be staying behind, to keep an eye on everyone there and make sure they weren't attacked again (and in case they were help fight and alert the teens of the trouble). The rest had divided in two teams, one that would be going to each location: Wyatt, Chris and Henry would be going to Azkaban (as the dementors were no longer there they had no need to worry about that, and they could become invisible if needed so as not to be discovered); Harry, Hermy, Mel and Draco would be going to the Ministry, Malfoy had already been there and knew the place, Mel could freeze anyone necessary so they weren't discovered, Hermy was carrying a crystal to scry if necessary and Harry had enough energy to orb them all if needed (and also all of them except Mel could apparate in an emergency).

.---.

The quartet arrived to the Ministry in utter silence. Harry had used his ability to transform his appearance to appear like one of the aurors he had seen once, Hermy and Mel had done spells to change their appearances as well, and Draco just needed a disguise to look like his father (something he didn't really like but knew was necessary in their situation).

They managed to enter the Ministry and reach the lift without anyone stopping them, proving they were having luck on their side.

"Now what?" Draco asked.

"I'm not sure." Hermy replied honestly. "It's a toss up between the auror's headquarters or the Department of Mysteries."

"Why the department of mysteries?" Mel asked.

"Because that's were powerful and many times unknown objects are located." Hermy declared seriously. "And the aurors…well, it's obvious."

"I don't think the aurors would keep a dark object around them, especially if they don't know what it may do." Harry said thoughtfully.

"Then the department of mysteries it is." Draco finally hit one of the buttons on the lift.

They reached the department shortly afterwards and they walked slowly, not wanting to be found there by someone that would notice anything suspicious was going on.

They reached the doors soon enough and once more had trouble deciding which one to use.

"We have to be careful." Mel reminded them. "I wouldn't like to end in the Room of Death once more…"

"You're telling us…" Hermy said with a tint of sarcasm. "I still have bad memories of the last time we were here."

"Last time?" Draco asked.

So while Harry and Hermy made calculus and tried to decide in which room the horcrux might be, Mel told her friend everything she could remember about that night, a bit over a year ago. Draco was quite shocked to hear everything they had gone through, especially Harry and Hermy falling through the creepy veil.

Right as the other two finished their conversation Hermy and Harry finally chose one of the doors and they opened it.

As soon as they stepped inside they could all see the crystal around Mel's neck reacting.

"It's here." Mel declared confidently. "The object I've been scrying for…"

"Draco, could you try to use your powers as mindbreaker to pick up the horcrux?" Hermy asked the blonde hopefully.

"Don't know. I can try." Draco declared.

He concentrated and almost lost his footing, there were a lot of powerful objects in that room, and about half of them had dark magic in them. But finally after a few minutes he sensed one object that had both good and bad energy within it, both at a quite higher level than all the other objects.

The other three immediately followed Draco as he made his way between several shelves and to the farthest side of the room. There they found a chest that was sealed.

"That's why I couldn't find it before." Draco explained. "The chest has very powerful light-magic to prevent anyone from getting the dark object inside."

"It appears that even though they didn't know what the object they had found was, they knew it was better kept locked-up." Harry commented.

Everyone agreed.

"So, you want to try and open it with your own powers, or should I just blow the lid off?" Mel asked with her hands already raised.

"I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to blow anything up while in this room Mel." Hermy said seriously while taking a quick look around her. "We don't know how dangerous many of these objects are."

"I say we get the thing out 'a here and handle it someplace else, a safer place, maybe with the others help." Draco suggested.

They all liked his suggestion and they nodded.

"Someone's coming." Hermy announced suddenly.

"Let's get out now." Mel urged them.

Draco got out a black bag that was enchanted so anything would fit inside. Carefully Hermy levitated the sealed chest into the bag and after putting a concealing and protecting incantation in it she let Draco put it away.

"Lets go." Harry said.

They all took hold of him, and a second later, they orbed away.

When the auror that was guarding that floor arrived he noticed the door to the room slightly ajar, but no one was around. So he just closed the door and left, having no idea of what had just happened there.

.---.

Once they were out of the Ministry the quartet got themselves and their 'package' to a small cave in the outskirts of Hogsmeade, they believed it would be safer, or at least less dangerous, to try and destroy the horcrux there than in the school.

Once there they called the other trio to join them and began brainstorming on a way to get rid of the 'bloody evil thing', as Mel liked to call it. Eventually they decide to try and open the chest first and get the music-box out, and then try any kind of purifying spells. If that didn't work then Mel would be given the authorization to try and blow up both the music-box and the chest with her powers.

"Is this safe?" Draco asked doubtfully as Wyatt, Chris and Henry began picking at the locks of the chest to open it.

"Not really but, what else can we do?" Hermy answered simply. "We need to get this 'bloody evil thing' (as Mel says) destroyed, we have by far a greater chance that Dumbledore and his people to manage it without getting ourselves killed in the process, and if we get hurt Mel and Harry can heal us."

"And if they get hurt?" Draco asked, still not liking the idea.

"We can call for Auntie Paige, or any other white-lighter within range." Mel replied.

She didn't know why, but she too had a very odd feeling about what they were doing. As if they were missing something. And suddenly, it hit her.

"Wait!" Mel yelled as she spun around to face those who were trying to open the chest.

It was too late. Right then they managed to break the chest open, and the move made the music-box slip out and pop open.

A second later a soft and entrancing music filled the small cave. Mel immediately covered her ears to prevent herself from hearing the music, something that proved to be useless a minute later when Draco took hold of her arms and began dancing with her, therefore making her hear the music.

Looking around Mel could see Wyatt and Chris on the ground, both seemed to be struggling to move, but to no avail.

"What's the meaning of this?" Henry asked.

He and Draco seemed to be taking turns to dance with Mel.

"I'm not sure." Mel replied. "It seems the music-box was enchanted to make everyone who hears the music dance, and render those who may represent a threat immobile."

"What makes you think that?" Draco asked.

It seemed that all of them knew something was amiss but couldn't stop dancing (those who weren't unconscious that is).

"There are some things about us that we haven't told you yet." Mel explained to him. "My brothers are considered as prodigies by our magical society."

"Prodigies?" Draco asked.

"The most-powerful magic-wielders of the era, along with a few others." Henry explained.

"Wyatt was given the title of 'Twice-Blessed-Child' when he was just born, and pronounced the 'Heir of Excalibur' when he wasn't even a year-old, "Mel began and when seeing his face she added. "Long story, I'll explain more another time. Chris, on the other side is called by some 'The Traveler', because he's the only one that has been able to successfully travel to the past, change the future for the better and not erase himself from existence in the process."

"But that can't be too hard." Draco said thoughtfully. "I mean, even in the wizarding-world there exist the time-turners."

"Oh, but we aren't talking about traveling some hours or days into the past, but years." Henry said matter-of-factly. "Twenty four years into the past to be precise."

"He traveled from a time when he was twenty three, to a time when he wasn't even an idea yet!" Mel added. "Anyway, the Elders wanted them to be white-lighters, but they chose life as demon-hunters instead. They both are really powerful, maybe that evil-thing sensed it and activated this magic as a form of protection."

"What about you?" Draco asked.

Mel didn't answer the question.

"They call her 'The Golden Avatar'." Henry answered for her.

"Henry!" Mel seemed to be wanting to shut him, but he didn't stop there.

"Why are you ashamed of your own title?" Henry asked.

"Because I did nothing to deserve it." Mel replied.

Draco really didn't understand what was going on there; but he promised himself he would find out more about it.

Right then a noise interrupted them. When they turned they all could see Harry dancing with Hermy, the thing was, 'she' wasn't dancing with him. She seemed to be struggling with him to get free, to make him react.

"Why isn't Harry conscious like us?" Draco asked, confused. "And why is Hermione able to move freely?"

"I think the music-box considered Harry as more dangerous than us due to his mix of wizard and white-lighter power, and left him more controlled than us." Henry began.

"And Hermy…" Mel sighed. "Don't ask, I have no idea."

"Neither do I." Henry added.

"Harry Evan Potter, wake up!" Hermy yelled at the top of her lungs.

And then, to all the others' surprise, she pressed her lips against Harry's, in a full kiss.

Once could say it sounded as if a piece of glass had just shattered, except there was no actual sound, just the sensation, the moment Harry blinked and the light returned to his eyes.

Hermy sighed as Harry finally stopped dancing and she was able to 'get he arms free' of his own. She noticed her 'friend' seemed quite confused at the moment.

"The music-box!" It suddenly dawned on the young man.

"Yes." Hermione nodded. "We must get rid of it. I have a feeling that only then the others will be able to move freely again."

As she said that she pointed to where the other three continued dancing, and then to where the two eldest demon-hunters laid unconscious.

"Any idea as to what we can use to get rid of the music-box?" Harry asked thoughtfully.

"Maybe a spell." Hermione suggested. "Let me think…"

Harry kept an eye on the music-box, now that he had been freed of the hypnotic-spell of the melody it was easy for him to sense it was there, and therefore resist it.

"I think I've got it." Hermione said right then and began chanting: "I am light, one too strong for you to fight. Return to the void, where all evilness pace, you just don't belong in this place. Go away leave my sight, and take with you this creepy night."

The effect was almost instantaneous, a shadow emerged from the music-box just as the music stopped playing, once the shadow was fully out of the object it was encased by a glow that had emerged from Hermione's hands, a glow that seemed to hurt the shadow, making it twist and finally let out a high-pitched scream.

It all lasted only for a second before it was over.

Hermy collapsed on her knees, thoroughly exhausted for what she had just done.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked kneeling next to her.

"Just tired." Hermione answered truthfully. "I think that after some sleep I'll be just fine, and maybe an elixir could be useful too."

"Draco and I will get the elixir done Hermy, you go and get some sleep." Mel offered.

Harry didn't even give his girl a chance to reply, he scooped her in his arms and orbed out of the cave, to the Ravenclaw girl's dorms.

"I'll keep this until Harry decides what to do with it." Henry declared as he put the music-box, now purified, back inside the chest.

Chris decided to go pay his girlfriend a visit, while Wyatt went to find Billie and let her know they had successfully destroyed the horcrux (hopefully without including the fact of how he had remained unconscious for most of it).

.---.

It was until a few hours later, once they had rested and slept, that the group of teenagers, once more concealed under their cloaks, made their way to the Headmaster's office.

"Well," Dumbledore didn't bother to hide his surprise at seeing them. "To what do I owe this honor, my lords and ladies?"

"We're here once more to help you and your noble quest, sir." Hermy said softly as she gave a step forward.

Harry immediately stepped next to her. Albus Dumbledore deduced those two were the ones that had helped him and Harvey Potter at the end of the previous school-year, though he had never before seen the other three; although he could easily make out one was a woman and the other two were young men.

"We've brought you, a gift, you could say." Harry told him.

And as he spoke Henry stepped forward, left the chest in the Headmaster's desk and returned to his post at the back.

After giving a small look at the quintet of teenagers before him, the old man used his wand to open the chest, and took a look at the object inside.

"That's the Raven's music-box." Hermione explained as she herself brought it out for Albus to see. "A relic left behind by Rowena Ravenclaw herself, one Tom Riddle managed to get his hands onto."

They all noticed the man's immediate reaction, but Hermione soothed him right away.

"However, you have nothing to fear." The sorceress told him. "The evil that laid in this object has been dealt with, the dark soul exists in our plain of existence no more."

"You have my eternal gratitude, my lady…ladies and lords." Albus declared. "You have no idea how much you've helped me and the light side."

"Oh, but we do." Harry assured him seriously. "We know exactly what this object is, or used to be; that's why we took matters in our own hands. The spell that protected it wasn't an easy one to deal with, not even for us, you and your own would have been rendered defenseless. Know that we aren't underestimating anyone in any way, but being who we are, we know our strengths and weaknesses, just as the ones of those who surround us. We knew this duty was for us to handle."

"And who exactly are you?" Dumbledore asked, raising a brow.

"The time will come for all the masks to be pulled-off and the truth to be revealed; but that won't happen today." Harry said softly. "Not until all the cards are set and loyalties openly made known."

"If it's of any help, know that our efforts are put solely on the light." Hermione added. "Our very lives are sworn to the good."

"Times are changing, professor, just like the people." Mel spoke softly from behind. "We have many important allies, and so do you; some not even you know about. You may have noticed that the shadow is growing, but never doubt that we'll never let it get too far."

"We'll always fight." Henry added. "With our very lives if need be. This school, the light side, won't fall as long as we breathe."

"How can a group of teenagers make such promises?" Dumbledore asked, hoping he wasn't offending the group.

"Because our very lives have been devoted to this since we have memory." Harry answered. "And it will continue that way until our end."

And with that last declaration the five of them left in a midst of blue sparks.

* * *

Now, before people star getting confused here. The deal about Melinda will be explained, (in about two more chapters I think). And about the chapter, that wasn't 'really' the last horcrux, you people must remember we're still missing a certain snake, but as they can't go after the animal until the last moment (so as not to make Voldemort too suspicious), these will be the last horcrux they'll go after, for now. Also, I know that Ravenclaw's horcrux wasn't really a musicbox, but I had already written this when the books came out, and the true object of the horcrux didn't quite fit with the scene I had planned, so I had to leave things my way (and if you considered that my pairings aren't exactly cannon...). Anyway, I hope you liked it anyway. 

Next chapter: _The Winter Break arrives, and with it a few surprises for two certain white-lighters, one who will receive his first charge, and the other one who once rejected her help. And a new character is coming or way! _This and more in _Charges Old and New. _


	15. New and Old Charges

**Chapter 13. ****New and Old Charges. **

Henry was standing in front of an elegant manor, bigger than the Halliwell manor but not so big as to make him feel intimidated; however he was nervous. Standing there, having just rung the bell, he couldn't help but remember earlier that day, what had gotten him there.

Flashback 

It was Sunday morning, right after they had gone to deliver the now-purified-horcrux to Prof. Dumbledore; Henry had been called by the elders.

"You called for me?" He asked after doing a short bow.

"That we did." One of the elders told him. "We've watched your training, your great progress over the years; and have decided to give you your first charge."

That notice really surprised Henry. He knew he was the second generation of 'born' white-lighters, being his mother of the first. And yet his mother wasn't given a charge until she was in her late-twenties. It was true Harry had been given Hermione as a charge when being barely six, but Henry had been told they were 'special circumstances' (though as to what made them special no one really knew).

"After thinking we have decided you're the indicated white-lighter to guard her." The elder continued. "She's still new with her powers, so you won't only be guarding her, you'll also have to help her train and teach her everything there is to know."

Henry supposed they had chosen him for a task like that because of the home were he had been raised, and the fact that he was also half-warlock (wicca term for male-witches).

"She's had her powers for six months and…" The elder was abruptly interrupted.

"What?!" Henry lost all composure right then and there. "If she's had her powers for that long why was I called until now?!"

"It appears that she was repressing her powers on her own." The elder told him, not even faced by Henry's outburst. "She lost control over them yesterday and had a little accident, nothing to worry about; but it has become obvious she can't keep hiding her powers, she needs to learn to use them, and to deal with what comes with them."

"You make it sound like she doesn't want to be a witch." Henry commented.

"I meant it like she didn't know it was in her, at least not this kind of magic." The elder replied in the usual-cryptic way. "There's a reason why we chose you, Henry Mitchell, besides the fact that your raising may help you understand this new charge better; there's also the fact of your education…" The elder began explaining.

"Education?" Henry asked, and right then it dawned on him.

"Yes Mr. Mitchell." The elder nodded. "Your new charge is a wand-witch…"

And even though Henry had been expecting that, he couldn't help but stare in shock.

End of Flashback 

The door opening brought Henry out of his memories, and there in the door he could see the small figure of what he knew was a house-elf. (He knew because he had met Harry's friend, 'Dobby the Free house-elf').

"Who's the gentleman, and who's he looking for?" The house-elf asked cordially.

"My name is Henry Mitchell." Henry replied with a short bow to show respect. "And I'm here looking for Miss Cho Chang…"

.---.

Henry wasn't the only one facing an British-charge that day, his mother too was doing the exact same thing; the different being that Paige's charge did know what she was, had known for a very long time, and had chosen to suppress her powers.

The half-witch half-white-lighter was in that moment standing on the roof of one of the tallest buildings in the neighborhood, her gift of invisibility preventing passing people from making a fuss about her presence, while she used one of her powers to try and locate her charge; one she hadn't seen in a very long time…

Flashback 

A younger Paige dressed in casual clothing was standing in the backyard of a two-story house in a nice neighborhood from Bristol; before her stood a girl who seemed to be around twelve years old, with dark eyes and auburn hair, dressed in a simple shirt, skirt and tennis-shoes, she looked quite shocked.

"What do you mean with that?" The girl finally asked.

"Exactly like I said it." Paige replied calmly. "You have a kind of magic that goes far beyond what one can do with a wand. You're what we call a wicca-witch. And I'm here because I was chosen to be your white-lighter…"

End of Flashback 

.---.

"White-lighter?" A woman with ashen-black hair and deep blue eyes asked, confused at the term the boy before her was using.

Henry was at the moment standing in the middle of the Changs' sitting room, after having been escorted inside by the family's house-elf. He had explained already who he was, and what had gotten him there; but it seemed the parents were having some slight difficulties in understanding and accepting everything the boy was telling them.

"You may understand me better if I use the term clear-guide." Henry replied. "We could say it's a guardian-angel of sorts for witches like Miss Chang."

"But you still haven't explained what 'a witch like her' means." Mr. Chang said sternly.

"A wicca-witch." Henry explained. "When compared to the witches and wizards you know, she has a different level in the way she can perform magic."

.---.

Flashback 

"You mean I'm not really a wand-witch?" The girl asked anxiously.

"I mean you're much more than that." Paige replied. "The level you've shown in this year at your magic-school has been good, but your potential goes far beyond that, in ways that just can't be taught at your school."

"What?!" She cried out. "You mean you want me to leave Hogwarts?! No way!"

"We have our own Magic School, it will adjust better to your kind of power. You must know Miss that with the right education you could become very powerful. Maybe even be a Demon-Hunter one day…"

"I don't want! I don't want to leave my home, I don't want to leave Hogwarts and I don't want to leave my friends. I won't do it, and you can't make me."

"That's right, I can't. But I'm afraid that if you don't get the right training your powers will one day get out of control and you'll be in trouble."

"Then I'll never use those powers. I've already mastered my gift. But aside from that, I'll never use magic if it isn't the one of my wand."

"Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Yes."

"Very well. As I said, I can't force you to do what you obviously don't want. But know this: you won't be able to turn your back on your inheritance forever. Believe me, I know. One day it'll catch up to you and you must be ready to accept what comes with it."

"I will." There was no doubt in the girl's words.

"Very well, then so be it. It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Tonks…"

And without further ado, Paige vanished in a haze of blue sparks.

End of Flashback 

That meeting wasn't the best Paige had ever had with one of her charges. But she had been told in advance that she might not be able to get that girl to accept her tutoring, especially being as she was already part of another magical society.

What was incredible was that that girl (who wasn't a girl any longer…) had actually been able to suppress her wicca magic for so long, twelve years to be exact; until she finally used it…

.---.

"She's always done magic the same way as us, as everyone else!" Mrs. Chang stressed out.

"That may be true." Henry nodded. "But being a wicca-witch doesn't mean she can't use a wand, it just means she has greater possibilities and abilities that go beyond that."

"What kind of abilities?" It was the first time Cho had dared speak since Henry had stepped into her family's sitting room and began explaining about her just-awoken-powers.

"Well, according to the records the elders showed me before I came here, you're listed as a Conjurer." Henry answered.

The Changs didn't completely understand what that meant.

"Ok." Henry declared. "Let's do something simple, so you and your parents will see. I want you to concentrate in a small, inanimate object, lets say…a flower. Think about your favorite flower, concentrate, picture it in your mind…Now imagine that flower crossing the boundaries of your mind and materializing in the real world, in your extended left hand…"

Mrs. Chang gasped suddenly.

Cho opened her blue eyes right then, she had closed them to concentrate the way Henry had told her to do, and was quite shocked at what she saw: there, in her outstretched left hand laid a single magnolia-blossom.

"Amazing…" Cho whispered.

"And that's just the beginning of it." Henry explained. "With the right training you'll one day be able to conjure any kind of thing, or 'materialize' if you prefer that term; from all sizes, and with as many details as you wish. You will also be able to summon things and even living beings from anyplace they may be, as long as you know what you want to summon. There's just no way of knowing yet how far you may get."

"You mean she can be more powerful than you?" Mr. Chang asked.

"I mean she can be as powerful as she wishes to be." Henry answered with a smile. "I'm not the best person to compare her to, as I'm not a conjurer myself, though one of my mother's former students is. I'm, as I said before, a white-lighter and a warlock, and due to the different bloodline I have several gifts and not one; though Miss Cho's gift is quite powerful by itself. I have no doubt that if she put enough effort in it she'll soon become a very powerful conjurer."

"Call me Cho." The gal said. "I'll be very pleased to have you as my trainer and guardian."

.---.

Tonks kept pacing back and forth in the small and cozy sitting room of her flat in downtown London; something that she had been doing for some time.

"This time I really got myself in some thick trouble." She mumbled to herself, as she couldn't help but remember what had gotten her in that predicament.

Flashback 

She had been chosen for that particular mission, an ambush upon a group of suspected DE, in a pub in some small village, nothing major; until the ambush turned against the aurors.

It had been so sudden, Tonks began fighting on instinct. Spell after spell, move after move; spells, jinxes, and at some moment even physical fighting maneuvers, went on, as each side tried its best to overpower the other.

But eventually the DE proved to be just too many and too well prepared. The leader of the aurors gave the order to retreat, when half of them had already fallen.

Tonks had foolishly stayed behind until the last moment, trying to get sure that no more of her comrades would fall in that place; and that action, while noble and courageous, had almost cost her her own life.

She had waited so long to leave that by the time she tried the place she was in had already been sealed, anti-aparition and anti-portkey wards already in place, and as there was no fireplace anyway near, she was trapped.

Too tired to continue dueling, Tonks had almost given up all hope of making out of that place and her awful situation when she suddenly felt something inside of her; it was as if a dam had broken, releasing a wave of power that she had almost completely forgotten she possessed; it had been so long since she had last used it…

Her wand had fallen to the ground with a low clank, followed silently by her cloak and robes, as she felt her body slowly changing, in an entirely different way from when she used her metamorphmagus abilities.

Just a few seconds later four DE had entered the room, looking for any possible survivors from the ambush. The only thing they found was a forgotten wand, a pile of clothes and an old-looking dusty lamp.

After making sure there were no aurors, the DE just turned around and left.

And just a couple of seconds later, on top of the discarded clothes and next to the fallen wand, in place of the dusty-lamp, stood a very bewildered and exhausted Tonks.

End of Flashback 

She'd transformed into an inanimate object, something she knew went far beyond the powers of a metamorphmagus; they in fact belong to a shape-shifter…

Tonks was brought out of her memories by an insistent knocking on her door. Knowing that whoever was out there would not be easily dissuaded she finally stopped her pacing and went to open the door, at the same time wondering just who would be behind it, as she wasn't really expecting any visitors.

'Though there is the chance…' she thought in the last moment.

And so, the young metamorphmagus (or shape-shifter) opened the door to find a certain auburn-haired, cinnamon eyed woman dressed in muggle clothes.

"Hello Miss Tonks, I hope you remember me." The newly arrived, who was in fact none other than Paige, declared seriously.

"I do, how could I ever forget you?" Tonks replied honestly, she sighed before adding. "I knew you would be coming sooner or later."

"Then you must also know the reason why I've come." Paige replied.

"I do." Tonks nodded.

"And?" Paige was expecting some kind of response from the woman.

"Well, I really don't think I have much of a choice, after your departing words more than a decade ago." Tonks declared honestly. "And as much as it costs me to admit it, I must say it would be good to have some more power on me with the war that's going on."

"Ok." Paige nodded. "I understand."

"You do?" Tonks asked, somewhat confused. "How would you know anything about our war? I mean, I thought you had said you weren't from Europe."

"I'm not." Paige said honestly. "But that doesn't mean I don't know what's going on around me. I'm a witch Miss Tonks, and a whitelighter, and not all of my charges are from USA."

Tonks nodded, that sounded logical.

"I've been told of the little stunt you pulled yesterday." Paige said. "It seems you know how to use your powers well enough. It helps the fact that you're so used to using the glamouring."

"So, now when I have trouble I'll call you?" Tonks asked.

"No." Paige replied. "As much as I would like that, it would not work. I live too far away for me to be available at short notice. I've already talked to the elders, and they agreed with me that you should be able to call on someone who's closer to you if you ever have an emergency, only if he can't handle those things I will come in, or if he can't assist you."

"Who will I have to call then?" Tonks asked.

As in the previous meeting Paige had explained most of what her responsibilities were, Tonks only needed to understand a few basic details.

"My son." Paige replied, then she turned to the ceiling and called. "Samuel!"

Some seconds passed, and then a trace of blue sparks announced the arrival of the younger whitelighter. He was wearing a completely white outfit, consisting of shirt, slacks and shoes, as well as a silver mask that covered the upper half of his face; those were the things he had decided to wear when meeting with someone he didn't want to know who he truly was.

"You called me mom?" Henry asked.

"Yes." Paige nodded. "This is Miss Nymphadora Tonks, a charge of mine that I've been told to guard. As you can deduce from our current location she's a wand-witch, and right now lives quite far from me."

"You want me to look after her." The boy deduced.

"Yes." Paige nodded. "I know you have another charge to look after, but I believe Miss Tonks will be able to take care of herself just fine. I just want you to be alert in case of an emergency as in such circumstances you're likely to get here faster and easier than I."

"I understand." Henry nodded, he then turned to the other woman. "My name is Samuel, Miss Tonks, whenever you need me just call my name and I shall be able to find and help you. In case of a serious emergency either you or I will call my mother. But if it's something simple then I must be able to take care of it. Any doubts?"

Tonks shook her head.

"Very well, if that's all I have another charge to go back to." Henry declared. "A pleasure meeting you Miss Tonks, good bye mom."

And just as he had arrived, the boy was gone.

.---.

In an entirely different place, one that seemed to be completely drowned in shadows, a figure could barely be seen running, her speed and quietness making it obvious that whatever it was he or she was doing it was supposed to be a secret.

The figure arrived to what looked like some old manor, one of the few buildings still standing in the shadowed city. Being extremely careful, almost as if she/he expected to be discovered and attacked at any moment she/he made their way inside.

The manor was absolutely silent at the moment, something the intruder decided to use to its advantage; it was when it step under the moonlight that came from a glassless window in the solarium that the figure's characteristics became evident.

It was female, a woman on her late-teens, with long very-dark red hair in a tight braid, slightly dark skin, slim and tall, wearing dark-brown leather clothes, a tight top with a low v'-neck and just strings in the back and around her neck, mini-shorts that reached just to beginning of her thighs, along with high healed boots that covered most of her legs (to where her shorts ended), with those came fingerless gloves and forearm-protectors; as well as a long midnight-black cloak that covered her almost completely. From her back hung an elaborated bow made of dark wood, thin arrows with blood-red tips and feathers were secured in a quiver and strapped to her back, along with a couple of cutlasses that rested at her hips.

Slowly, silently, she made her way to the top level of the manor, the attic. In a corner rested an old book, a book that throughout many years had been the aim of many creatures, of both light and darkness; but she didn't seem to care about it at all.

Instead she made her way to a wall, where she pressed her hand to the worn-out drawings, a symbol had been there once, the triketra; the signal of the legendary Power of Three.

She immediately brought out a piece of chalk and began drawing her own symbol above the old one, this one consisted of two four-pointed stars, that in fact looked like gems of some sort, it was the signal that represented an old sisterhood known as the Jewel-Witches.

She had just finished inscribing some runes on the points of the star when she heard noises in the manor. She cursed softly, she would have to hurry or risk being found. She was about to began an incantation when voices called her attention.

"Do you believe the words of this so-called Shadow Queen, my lord?" A hesitant voice asked.

"I do." A harder, colder voice replied. "We all know what those stupid rebels tried for so long, it's not impossible that they may have succeeded, at least in part."

"So, you're going to take up on her offer?" Another voice asked.

"At least for now, yes." The cold voice of the one who was probably the leader replied. "We could greatly benefit of something like this. After all these years we have almost completely drained the magic of this world, if we take this allegiance we will have new energies, fresh energies." He snorted as he added. "And I just can't wait to meet sweet little Christopher again, I wonder if he's found his phoenix again…"

The laugh that echoed in the hallways was so cold…

The young woman seemed to panic right then as she began to hurriedly chant an incantation in a foreign language. She was halfway when the attic door unexpectedly banged open.

"Well, what have we here?" A taunting voice said in a dark tone.

The woman's eyes opened wide in fear and despair, but she never stopped chanting, all the while holding a wrapped package tight in her hands.

"What have you gotten there, Jewel?" The leader's voice asked.

But instead of answering she vanished the package, right as she spun around, chanted the last line of her incantation, and slammed both of her hands on the symbol she had drawn earlier.

The effects were immediate, a multicolored light erupted from the lines on the wall and began forming some kind of cocoon around her almost right away.

"What are you waiting for idiots, stop her!" The leader yelled to those that had arrived with him. "Don't let her leave!"

But it was useless, the light was pure-magic, light-magic, and that made it impossible for the others, demons, to even get near enough the young woman to touch her.

Right before the light finished enveloping her, the young woman turned to look at the dark leader one last time, tears could be seen falling down her bright jade eyes.

"I'm sorry…" She mouthed to the young man, a pain in her eyes so deep that no one other than her could understand. "Wyatt…"

And with that, she was gone.

* * *

Oh...so many flashbacks, I hope it was all clear...except the last scene, that was meant to be confusing. You'll understand more about it in the next chapter.

Now, I apologize for the late update, and for future late updates as well. You see, up to now I had had the chapter written beforehand, as sometimes my muse doesn't feel like being too cooperative and leaves my work hanging for a while. From here on I will be writting chapters and uploading them right away. This brings you an advantage, as now you can give suggestions and ideas, but on the other hand it's probably going to take me longer to bring you new chapters. Sorry, but that's just how things are, hope you'll bare with me and keep reading.

P.S. By the way, thanks for all your reviews! I love them!


	16. Darkness and Light

I'm back! I'm alive! Jejeje! I know, it's not exactly funny, but I was having some serious trouble deciding how to continue this fic. I knew what I wanted, but couldn't find the words. However, now that's been sorted out. This chapter will reveal a few secrets, especially concerning Mel's identity and powers. I ask you to read the note at the end of the chapter and if you still have doubts feel free to express them in your review

* * *

**Chapter 14. ****Darkness and Light **

Even if it was still considerably early in the morning there was already a significant amount of activity in the Halliwell household.

Piper was washing the dishes with some help from her youngest daughter, waiting for her husband to return from settling some pending matters in Magic School, there weren't classes as the Winter Break had begun already. Her eldest children no longer slept at her home, but she was happy with her 'surrogate ones', who she knew were in one of the bedrooms doing homework or something like that.

"Hey mom!" A male voice called.

"Wyatt, don't do that!" Mel cried out as she practically jumped at her brother's sudden orbing.

Wyatt just laughed lightly as he messed his little sister's hair and gave his mom a peck on the cheek, all the time smiling.

"Hey!" Melinda complained. "I'm not a puppy."

Wyatt didn't reply to that, but continue smiling.

Their happy family-moment was interrupted by a sudden crash upstairs.

"What was that?" Piper asked.

No one had any idea but they immediately ran upstairs, where they found Harry, Hermy and Draco peeking out one of the bedroom doors, their confused and slightly scared expression making it obvious that they didn't know what that noise had been either.

Wyatt vanished in a haze of blue sparks, deciding it would be better if he went ahead, as he didn't want to risk his mother and sister to some demon.

It took the three seventeen-year-olds just a second to agree with him and go after him. Harry orbed too, along with Hermy, who in the last moment held onto him; Draco apparated away.

"Hey!" Mel cried out.

Melinda was angry, why was it that she couldn't orb, or apparate like the others? She knew why, she didn't have the power to orb, and she couldn't apparate because she wasn't yet off age, and hadn't gotten a carnet. Life just wasn't fair sometimes.

So Piper and Mel had to accept the difference there was between them and the other teens and climbed the rest of the stairs up to the attic as fast as their feet would take them.

What they found up there was certainly far from anything they could have been expecting.

A young woman, in her late teens or maybe even her early twenties, was laying on the ground, tangled in the dark cloak she wore over a tight-leather outfit, weapons strapped to her back and hips.

But as shocking as her appearance may be to some, that wasn't the Halliwells' case, they were just too used to strange-looking people (or creatures) appearing in their attic (or any part of their house really).

What was really shocking was how she remained there, frozen, her eyes fixed directly on Wyatt's, and her facial expression one of complete and absolute panic.

"M-my Lord…" she gasped, as she tried crawling backwards, but her body seemed just too heavy, she couldn't move.

"What?" Wyatt was extremely confused, he didn't understand who the young woman was, or what she was talking about.

But before he or any of the British children could even try to understand what was going on the attic door opened, allowing Piper and Mel inside; the last who immediately made her way to the front of the group.

"Jade?" She asked in a low tone.

At the sound of the voice the woman immediately spun around in Mel's direction; and as she locked eyes with the younger woman things seemed to take another very confusing turn.

"Lady Melinda!" The older woman cried out.

The panic vanished from her expression, replaced by a blooming hope, as she immediately got on her feet and practically jumped over the dark-auburn haired, olive-eyed witch.

.--.

It took a few minutes to get the mysterious young woman to calm down, and when they finally managed that Piper suggested that they all went to the living room to discuss things calmly.

"First of all, introductions are in order." Mel declared once they were all seated. "Everyone, this is Jade Juvelsinca, she's a Jewel Witch, and a very powerful one as well. Jade, this is my mother: Piper Halliwell, you already know my brother Wyatt, my boyfriend Draco Malfoy, my cousin Hermione Granger and her boyfriend and friend of all of us: Harry Potter."

"Piper Halliwell…" Jade gasped. "One of the Charmed Ones…"

"Yes…" Piper nodded, a bit confused by the unexpected awe the younger woman showed. "I am the eldest one, Phoebe and Paige are currently in their own homes, though depending on what happens we might have to call her and the others."

The rest nodded.

"Can you please not look at me that way?" Wyatt suddenly spoke.

"S-sorry!" Jade stuttered and immediately turned to look at the ground.

And it was that until then she had been turning around at everything and everyone, but her gaze continually came back to rest on Wyatt, with a mix of respect, confusion and fear…

"Jade, listen to me, before we go into whatever it is that brought you here you must understand one thing." Mel said seriously. "Wyatt Is Not Evil."

That had an immediate response of two people, as Jade snapped her head up to look at Mel's face, shock clearly showing on her face, Draco seemed thoroughly shocked as well, he hadn't been expecting that one.

"The Destroyer doesn't exist here, he never did." Mel continued explaining, momentarily ignoring Draco and her brother. "You…we are now in an alternate reality. That's also why you can see my mother and other people that probably would have never come anywhere close to SF; especially not after the Shadow Age began."

"So…so Lord Wyatt is…" Jade seemed to be very shy and frightened still, incapable of even finished sentences.

"He's not evil, he won't hurt you or me, or anyone else." Mel assured her.

Wyatt lowered his eyes suddenly as he understood; that woman, whoever she was, feared him because of something an alternate version of him had done.

"I need to know one thing first of all, Jade." Mel declared. "How did you get here?"

"I used an ancient transportation spell." Jade answered. "Using the remnants of the spell the Traveler and the Phoenix used once."

"That explains why you came to be in this reality and not any other…" Mel declared as she nodded, thoughtfully. "Why did you chose to travel in the first place?"

"Oh Lady Melinda!" Jade cried out suddenly. "It's all so awful. Since you left us there is no sun in the mornings, no moon in the nights. Most of the rebels either committed suicide or gave up soon after the new stage began; those who didn't were either executed or captured soon afterwards…for all of us earth has become a worse hell than the Underworld could have ever been…"

"What about you?" Piper asked.

"What about me?" Jade seemed confused.

"What happened to you?" Piper elaborated on her question. "Were you captured as well?"

"Oh…that…" Jade sighed. "I'm afraid they couldn't have captured me, as it's been too long since I've been free, I can't even remember what that is like to be honest."

"Not free?"

"I've been a slave since I have memory." Jade deadpanned as she took off one of her boots to reveal an elaborate tattoo on her ankle. "This is a slavery tattoo. As I'm a 'valuable slave' I have it in my ankle, and not in my neck or other more sensitive body-part."

"What does it do?" Hermione dared ask.

"If I don't follow my Master's command or displease him in any way he can activate it with just a word to punish me, the severity depends, of course, upon him. It can go from a minor shock, to leaving me unable to use my feet for more than a day." She answered nonchalantly.

Hermione flinches involuntarily at the crude description.

"It's not that bad." Jade said unexpectedly. "At least for those of us who have never known a different life, it isn't. I was given to my Master since I was very little, and he rarely punished me, only when I displeased him greatly. He said I was a valuable possession, as I'm the only remaining Jewel Witch, at least in my dimension."

"Who was your Master?" Draco questioned.

Jade didn't answer, just turned to look at Wyatt for a fraction of second, but that was enough. And it only made the oldest of Piper's kids all the worse. It didn't matter that it hadn't really been him that did all those terrible things, he still considered it was a part of him, and thus he couldn't help but blame himself.

Melinda didn't seem to be paying any attention to the pain and guilt her brother was feeling, or the confusion of her boyfriend, friends and even her own mother; she was too busy immersed into her own thoughts.

"Mel?" Draco suddenly brought her out of her reverie.

"What is it Draco?" She asked.

"That's what I would like to know." He replied. "You've been absolutely silent for more than ten minutes straight, and if you keep pacing over the same spot for much longer I fear to might wear a hole in the carpet."

Mel smiled slightly at her boyfriend's joke, but he could see that the smile didn't reach her eyes. He realized he was seeing a side of Melinda Halliwell he had never before seen, in fact, and for the way the others looked at her no one had. In that moment she wasn't she happy, open, and most-of-the-time-carefree sixteen-year-old most people knew; in that moment she was serious in her expression, stiff in her posture, and there was a look in her eyes Draco had only seen once before in her eyes, when they had faced Severus Snape on Halloween.

"Jade." Mel called suddenly.

"What is it, my lady?" Jade asked dutifully.

"I've been thinking about everything you just said, and there's one thing that doesn't seem to add up." The girl explained. "How long has it been since the last time we saw each other?"

"Around four years, my lady." Jade answered.

"Four years…" Melinda gasped as she finally collapsed in a chair. "That means it's been at least five years since Christopher left there the second time…" she sighed as she covered her head with her hands, another question came a bit muffled. "Things got pretty bad after that, didn't they?"

"Very much so, Lady Melinda." Jade nodded. "What little resistance was left was easily

crushed by the Shadow Army. They had no chance…without you…we were lost."

That last phrase made almost everyone sigh sadly.

"Without you?" Draco asked, quite confused. "That's must be wrong. She must mean the Melinda from that reality, right?"

"I'm afraid not Draco." Mel said seriously. "She means me, literally."

"But I thought that that you had told her she was now in a different reality." Draco explained. "How then could she have known you?"

"Because I don't truly belong to this reality, but to hers." Mel whispered in a very low tone.

.--.

After that little tidbit of information had been revealed the others had decided it would be better to leave Mel and Draco alone so she could explain the particulars to her boyfriend in private Meanwhile, the extra bed in the boy's room was moved in the girl's, and everything was arranged to have Jade stay there with them, even when she insisted they need not bother for her, they had all been pretty insistent.

Draco was still sitting in his chair, he hadn't moved at all since his girlfriend had made the shocking revelation more than a quarter of an hour ago.

Melinda, on the other hand, was standing next to a nearby window, but she wasn't really watching the beautiful trees and flowers on the front lawn, the sidewalk or the cars that went by the street a few yards away; instead, in her minds eye she was seeing an empty front lawn, debris all around, shadows and the rests of long-ago destroyed cars in an empty street, all around devoid of any life…

"Darkness." Mel declared suddenly.

Draco turned to look at her but didn't spoke, too surprised at her sudden declaration.

"That was all I knew for years." Mel began telling. "I was born into an era in which no one dared go out during the night, even those who didn't actually know about magic knew it was foolish to go out after the sun had left the sky. And those of us who knew…well, it's wasn't foolishness that drove us, but the fact that even when we knew that no matter how much we fought the war was lost, we just couldn't stop doing it." She sighed. "The war in fact had been lost since years before I was even born, when an evil clan kidnapped Wyatt and used a very special magic on him, they turned him completely. They raised him in the absolute darkness, to hate everything he would have once loved and respected. He became the Destroyer."

Tears began falling down the girl's eyes, but she went on.

"I never knew my Aunt Paige. She actually died years before I was born, I think that a year before Chris was born, in fact. Aunt Phoebe lived longer than that, in fact she got to marry and had a baby girl; life seemed to be going fine for her…until they were both killed, for no reason at all except that she was a Charmed One. She never smiled again after that. She helped me and Chris a lot as we grew and eventually died one night, the very same night our home was taken by the forces of darkness."

She couldn't help but cringe at the awful memory of what had happened when she had been barely fourteen years old.

"Both of my parents had died by then as well." Mel continued. "Mom when I was about ten, and dad when I was just a baby. Chris and Bianca took it upon themselves to take care of me when Aunt Phoebe was gone. The next years we were constantly on the run, never able to stay on one place for too long, out of fear of being found and executed. We were the appointed leaders of a rebellion, just because Chris and I were the children of a Charmed One. And Bianca, even if she was technically the daughter of a witch-hunter, she still had chosen to be with us, she truly loved my brother, in a way she still does I guess."

Draco could see stray rays of the sun reflecting on the tears that were, by then, steadily falling down his girlfriend's cheeks, but he dare say nothing at all.

"I remember the happiest day of our lives was when Bianca told us she was pregnant." Mel said softly. "I don't think I ever saw my brother so happy…but that happiness wasn't meant to last. A patrol caught up with us, and one of their attacks hit Bianca in the belly; my healing powers weren't strong enough…I couldn't save the baby…" she had balled her hands into fists so tight she very nearly drew blood. "Chris and Bianca never blamed me, of course not, but they need not to. I blamed myself, and that was enough. I lost my niece or nephew because I wasn't strong enough to save him/her…"

Draco couldn't stay immobile any longer, in a second he was standing behind his girlfriend, holding her tightly to him.

"After…it was after that day that Chris began making plans." Mel told him in a lower voice. "He was so sure that if he could travel into the past and stop Wyatt from ever turning against us everything would right itself. I wanted to believe him, but it was just so hard…I couldn't help but think on what would happen with the rebellion if he failed, if they lost him, our most powerful player…" she sighed and laid her head against Draco's shoulder. "Truth is I think I just didn't want to think what would be of Me, without him."

She was so dependable of her brothers, but especially of Chris. Even if most of the time she acted as though she didn't like all the attention, and was even annoyed by him, the truth was that she had never stopped depending on them, not even after getting to a completely new reality, she had always needed her big brother, and always would.

"Still, I supported him in his decision." She went on. "Shortly after he first left for the past we were attacked. Bianca was captured and I came very close to being killed. I don't really know what happened to her while she was captive, I just know that she somehow got my brother back to our time for a short while; then he was gone again, and she was dead, killed by Wyatt himself." She sighed. "Christopher never came back. Here I learnt that was because he died protecting Wyatt…ironic, don't you think? He died protecting the one who, in his own reality, had been the cause all of lives were destroyed…"

She laughed then, a dark, empty laugh.

"There was a huge battle then, and something happened." Mel continued after taking a deep breath. "It was something no one could have expected, especially not me…I became the most powerful witch to ever exist…"

"How?" Draco asked.

"I think it was somehow Bianca's doing." Mel answered. "You see, Bianca is what some call a 'phoenix', she was born into a clan of witch-hunters; but she turned her back on the clan out of love for my brother. However, she never stopped being the heiress of her own line. Now, the Clan 'Phoenix' had the particularity that whenever they hunted a witch or warlock they could rob them of their powers, not for themselves, but to sell them to others in the 'black market'. The selling and purchasing of powers is actually quite common in the underworld. Anyway, Bianca had inherited all the 'powers' her mother had collected in her years and others her ancestors never sold, you could say I was the beneficiary of this particular inheritance; except that for some reason I absorbed the powers and assimilated them. Therefore becoming the most powerful witch."

"I've never seen you use any of those powers." Draco pointed out.

"That's because I'm not supposed to." Mel explained. "I wasn't born with them, and it takes a lot out of me to use them. Then there's the fact that at least half of them are dark powers; some that no one even knows I have…"

"I get it, no using those powers." Draco nodded. "But there's just one thing I don't understand yet. How did you end up in our reality?"

"Remember the day we went after the Horcrux?" Mel questioned. "Remember what we talked about the tittles?"

"Yes." Draco nodded. "You said your oldest brother was called the 'Twice-Blessed-Child' and your other one was the 'Traveler'. Henry then mentioned something about you being called the 'Golden Avatar' or something like that."

"Exactly." Mel nodded. "During that battle I was telling you about, we ended up at a standoff. Even if I technically was as, if not even more powerful than Wyatt, I couldn't take upon all his army alone. So instead we settled in a tentative truce. They didn't attack us, we didn't attack them. Not exactly the best plan, but at least it assured there would be no more pointless deaths. Months later, however, I was contacted by a very particular group. They were Avatars. They told me they had been observing me for quite a while and had decided to make me an offer to join their ranks." She sighed. "I refused."

"But why?" Draco asked. "If I remember correctly the Avatars are the most powerful beings that exist, not just in this dimension but in all of them."

"Yes." Mel nodded. "But Avatars aren't supposed to get involved with any reality; in fact they tried it once and the results were unpleasant to say the least. They then made a different offer." She sobbed softly. "They offered me a new life, in a world where I would get to have a family and peace, the life I couldn't get to have the first time around…that's how I ended up here."

"The Avatars sent you here?" Draco asked for confirmation.

"Exactly." Mel nodded. "Truth is that Piper Halliwell in this dimension didn't have any more children after Christopher, she couldn't. I was taken from my original dimension and de-aged to a year-old baby and then given to my parents. They told them I came from another reality and that they had to take care of me. Of course they accepted immediately, mom had always wanted to have a daughter. It wasn't until years later, when Chris met Bianca for the first time, that he somehow also gained the memories of his alternate self. That's how they found out which reality I came from."

"What about you?" Draco inquired. "Did you remember as well?"

"I never forgot." She admitted quietly.

"So you're saying that your whole life you've gone knowing that the first time around one of your brothers' lived to kill you and the other to protect you and that most people around you never had a chance?" Draco was shocked.

"It's a bit of a crude way to say it, but yes, that's pretty much it." Mel nodded.

And suddenly Draco realized something else.

"That's why you acted that way with Snape, and in the other fights against the DE." He said softly. "This isn't the first war you go through…"

Mel just nodded silently, as another sob fought to escape her throat.

"I'm so sorry…so sorry…" Draco whispered as he tightened his embrace. "I can't believe I ever supported Voldermort and his ideas. I must have been utterly stupid indeed."

"Not stupid…" Mel said in a cracked voice. "Only misguided."

"Never again." Draco assured her. "I'm not making the same mistakes ever again. I promise you that I'll help you. And together we'll all make sure that this reality never sees the darkness you had to endure once.

"Thank you Draco, thank you so very much."

"It is you I should thank, my sweet. For showing me this light you are. I'll never let you down. I'll always be here for you. We'll win, you'll see, in the end, the light will prevail."

* * *

So...Melinda is not from this reality...actually I got that idea after someone made a comment that made me realize how illogical the powers I had given her were. After all, by the time she was conceived it had been a long time since Leo had stopped being a white-lighter, therefore there was no reason for her to have such abilities, and yet she had one that not even her brothers got. I at first considered chalking it up to writer-liberties, but in the end thought better of it; that's how this little plot was born. It also gave me the chance to bring Jade into existance, she will be very important for this fic.

Now, if you still have questions regarding Mel, feel free to ask me, if the questions are about Jade (or Jewel, as I might call her from time to time) wait a bit, more will be revealed in the following chapters, though some things will remain unsaid, as she is another of this fics mysteries.

Coming next chapter: _Billie has an unexpected reencounter with someone she hadn't seen in a very long time. How much will this meeting affect her, how much will it effect everyone's future. And some people might be coming very close to finding the truth about Harry and his friends..._

Don't forget to review! (And thank you again for your patience) I shall see you in the next chapter!


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